Opposites Attract
by xxxturkey
Summary: After return of Gaara. Saku, Kaka Kiba go after Sasoris spy in the land of grass. Meanwhile Naru enters the Chuunin exam, why is Hina so eager to take it with him? And after the last mission have Neji and Tenten grown closer? Gained good reviews so far.
1. Introduction

Opposites Attract – A Naruto Fanfic

First off, this is my first attempt at a fanfiction but I hope people will enjoy it. The idea is for it to have practically everything in, fighting, love, attempted humour etc etc. I also want to make it a long story, though it might involve planning later on. For now, I'm winging it. I won't reveal pairings yet, though you can probably work out my faves. By the way, I'm not into superpowered characters that can beat anything.

In terms of timing I'm writing it to the point the anime is at (look at the date). I should mention: If anyone mentions Manga plots I will come after you, its difficult enough avoiding them anyway without people directly _telling_ me. If you don't want anime spoilers then stop reading……….now.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime though I wish I could contribute plot lines. If by chance Masashi Kishimoto ends up reading this (yeah, I know…..) I can give advice anytime. As a side note I don't see why everyone complains about writing disclaimers, they take two seconds and then can be copy/pasted for the rest of time. Ah well.

Chapter 1: Introduction

It had been a week since Gaara's death and subsequent resurrection, and Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi and team Gai were all just returning from the Sand village. It had taken them two days to return the Kazekage back to his village and the remaining time had been spent at the funeral of elder Chiyo. They had all recognised how powerful she was and what a loss it was to the sand village. However, it was Sakura who had been most affected by her sacrifice.

"_I owe the fact that I survived against Sasori to her, she was so strong"_ Sakura thought, imagining the enormity of the decision to revive Gaara.

"_Would I have been able to do that in her situation?"_ she thought to herself, and she found herself wondering who she could do that for, feeling the familiar stab of pain associated with Sasuke.

"_But we got information from Sasori about Orochimaru, she didn't die for nothing, and we took him out"_ she considered, feeling happier than she had since the whole incident due to both facts. However her serious thoughts were rudely interrupted by something off to her left-

"I CAN SEE KONOHA! WE'RE BACK" Naruto shouted as he began running, earning a sigh from Sakura. She looked up, and sure enough the towering walls of the village were moving into view, backlit by the lowering sun behind the Hokage Mountain.

"If you think I'm losing to you, you've got it all wrong!" Naruto heard behind him and looked back to see a rapidly accelerating Lee on his tail.

"Ha, I've got a head start Lee!" Naruto called back, while accelerating himself.

"_Though this could be close…"_ he thought worriedly as the jump suited boy gained speed.

As they ran the distance to the gates was rapidly decreasing and though Naruto was pumping massive amounts of chakra to his legs, Lee would always be faster due to the sheer amount of training he had undertaken over the years. Naruto looked back, Lee had taken a massive bound, and in the period he was airborne he swept out the weights on his legs in one swift movement.

"_Crap!" _Naruto shouted inwardly, realising what this meant.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto called, and four other Narutos appeared ahead of him, quickly turning and throwing him as hard as possible towards the gates. Naruto was now definitely ahead, but Lee had already opened the first gate and was quickly moving through the others.

"Life gate: Release!" Lee shouted, his body turning red as the power to his muscles increased.

"_Only about 10 meters to go…"_ Naruto thought as he rocketed through the air. He saw Lee disappear, his eyes now unable to follow his friend's movement and at the exact same moment landed on all fours, skidding inside the gates. A split second later a line of dust was thrown up alongside Naruto, followed by a gust of wind.

"_Ha! I Won!"_ he celebrated triumphantly to himself, watching as the figure of Lee reappeared some distance from the gates entrance. Mere seconds later, the black haired boy was beside the blonde.

"Congratulations Naruto-kun, you defeated me" Lee smiled, his teeth catching the light in a way known only to himself and Guy.

"Yeah, it was a good race. Isn't there something that you normally do as 'punishment' now?" He asked, and stepped back as Lee's face lit up.

"Yes! I promised myself that I would do 10,000 press ups using only my little finger before sundown, otherwise I'll have to run around Konoha 20,000 times before the sun rises" He threw himself to the floor, the gate guards watching bemusedly "1, 2, 3…..".

"GO LEE! There are no barriers against the power of youth!" Gai screamed leaping through the gates in support of his pupil.

"Lee, that's impossible" Tenten wailed as she stopped in front her team-mate "At least go for something approaching realistic".

"He can't hear you Tenten ("24, 25, 26, 27"), Neji pointed out, making a point of not looking at Lee. "Look, shall we report to Tsunade-sama, I've got better things to do with my time than watch this" he waved a hand in the general direction of the pupil and the master, the latter screaming encouragement at the former. _"Plus"_ Neji thought to himself _"I have to get Guy back for that 'hands in' business"_ he shuddered.

Tenten giggled "Yeah, ok. Are you guys coming with us?" She turned to Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto as Gai continued screaming encouragement with no sign of letting up.

Naruto made a face "Do I have to?" he protested "I really need some food; all you let me eat on the way back was soldier pills. Plus ramen helps with emotional stress" he gave his most winning smile getting him a Look from Sakura.

"The hell it does, idiot!" she made as if to punch him but found him a little too quick. Kakashi interjected before there was bloodshed.

"Actually, I should be able to fill her in on our part of the mission so go ahead" he gave a wave then blinked at the dust that had just risen, "Well that was quite quick, ah well we better get on with it".

"He has actually grown up though, hasn't he?" commented Sakura _"He __never__ would have even asked before he went away" _they both thought at the exact same time.

Of course, Naruto was on his way to get ramen from Ichiraku's and though he was indeed fast, he had yet to gain the control required to run at that speed while at the same time thinking about his favourite food without running into something. First in the way was a fence that Naruto could have sworn wasn't there before he went off with Jiraiya, his passing marked by a smoking Naruto shaped hole in the wood (by the way has anyone noticed that those holes also include the shape of their hair, that's always struck me as odd, needless to say it was one of those holes). However the second obstacle was a little too tough and sent him flying.

He jumped back onto his feet instantly apologising to the prone figure.

"Oh god I'm so sorry" he apologised quickly.

"I'm just in a bit of a rush. Ramen emergency" He helped his victim up "Gotta go, sorry again" he shouted back as he ran.

"Ow" Hinata said to herself, rubbing herself softly where she had just been run into.

"_What, no __who__ was that?" _she thought, now brushing herself off as realization slowly dawned.

"_Orange blur…clumsy… blonde hair…Ramen?!"_ she looked back at the rapidly retreating figure.

"_Naruto-kun?"_ Her heart leapt at the thought of the hyperactive boy.

"_When did he come back?" _she asked herself, before her thoughts turned to other matters.

"_I barely got a look at him…" _she realised, pausing _"…I wonder how he's changed…"_ her heart sank as she realised something else.

"_He didn't recognise me…"_ she thought sadly, and started to twirl a lock of hair around her finger.

"…_But I didn't recognise him at first either" _she paused, lost in thought.

"_I'll find him tomorrow"_ she decided smiling, _"Then I can say hi properly, if I can get a word out…"_

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Naruto was reaching Ichiraku's and cursing himself for knocking over some innocent bystander and not making a real apology. There was something oddly familiar about that person too. He was just considering going back to apologise properly when-

"Hey". Naruto looked down and to his right. Both Chouji and Shikamaru were sitting at the counter, though now Chouji's attention was back on his food.

"Oh, hey there guys" Naruto smiled.

"I heard you were doing something with the Sand village" drawled Shikamaru, leaning back and looking away from Naruto.

"Oh, are you asking after Temari?" Naruto joked, Shikamaru turned right back towards the counter. "She's fine, she said she was going out with this guy in her village, Kei-something, well it began with a K…"

"Huh!" which was more of a reaction than the normally intelligent Shikamaru should have given, and he knew it. "Shut up, you're annoying", he sighed.

Naruto laughed and sat next to Chouji.

"A bowl of miso-ramen please!" he called.

"Coming up!" was the call back.

Naruto turned back to the two ninja next to him and began telling the two of them about the whole mission, though some of the story later became slightly muffled by ramen. He explained the start of the story as he had been told it, that Gaara had been kidnapped by an Akasuki member who used explosive clay and how Gaara had saved the sand village. Then how Kankuro had gone after Gaara and been defeated by another ninja using puppets which poisoned Kankuro.

Naruto remembered how Sakura had pulled off the amazing surgery to heal Kankuro.

"Have either of you seen Sakura use medical ninjutsu?" he asked. Chouji shook his head but Shikamaru nodded.

"I've been on a few missions with her while you were gone, she's progressed really well" he leaned forward with both elbows on the counter as if to rest from sitting down.

"She hasn't healed any major injuries for me, but the injuries I've had during a mission she's been able to heal perfectly. Plus…" he sat up to look at Naruto, with a small smile on his face.

"…She's got some frightening physical strength, you might want to think before you piss her off now" Naruto grimaced at the pineapple haired boy's words..

"Yeah, I've kinda already experienced it first-hand" he rubbed his cheek remembering the hit.

"_I am never doing the seduction technique anywhere near her again"_ he promised himself.

"Anyway, back to the mission…" the blond said brightly, continuing his story.

He moved on to describe his team's pursuit of Gaara and the fight with Itachi highlighting his new powers; especially his new Rasengan, and then later how they managed to get into the Akasuki lair after meeting up with team Guy.

"But that explosive bastard was sitting on Gaara, right on him!" he couldn't put into words what it was like to see another jinchuuriki who had been so badly mistreated in life, being mistreated in death too.

"And then he ran, well flew, like a coward!" Naruto's face told as much as his words did what he thought about that. Chouji finally spoke up

"And then what happened, he didn't get away?" he quizzed.

"Oh…er…" Naruto hesitated, the effects of Kakashi's Mangekyou Sharingan opening a rift came next but he didn't really understand what had happened.

"I don't really know what happened but whatever it was it tore off the guy's other arm, and Kakashi said that it had missed…" they all shared the same thought.

"_If it __missed__ and it took off the guy's arm, we're talking about a serious move"_ the lazy Chuunin broke the sudden silence.

"So he lost both arms, I'm assuming you got him?" Shikamaru raised his eyebrows at Naruto's lack of response. But the blonde didn't want to let on about the bit involving the Kyuubi.

"_The others seemed okay about it, so far"_ he looked at Chouji and Shikamaru.

"_But how would they react? Or anyone else?"_ he wondered. He still got dark looks in certain places in Konoha; from people who would never trust him while he had the Kyuubi inside him.

"_I don't want to lose anyone ever again, for any reason"_ he told himself straightening up. He finished the story with how Chiyo had appeared with Sakura and sacrificed herself for Gaara. He tailed off and Shikamaru breathed out slowly.

"So one Akatsuki member is down and another exploded, Gaara survived but only due to the sacrifice of this Chiyo woman?" he summed up.

"That's the basic gist of it really, yeah" he agreed.

"_Though that doesn't really do the story any justice, and especially not Chiyo…"_ he took up another bowl.

"_Still, Shikamaru's like that I guess"_ he thought to himself, turning to Chouji.

"Anyway" he said, hiding (or at least trying to hide) his slight feelings of depression.

"You seem to have gotten bigger as well by the way" Chouji's head snapped round, and Naruto felt the pressure of the larger boy's stare.

"_I only meant he'd grown, crap" _Naruto thought.

"By the way, where's Ino?" Naruto went on, changing tack as fast as possible.

"She's normally with you guys right?" he raised his eyebrows, the question also on his face. Chouji at last made a proper contribution to the conversation.

"You think Ino would be here?" He turned and started a mock impression with a pout and a high-pitched voice.

"Ramen?! Ramen?!?! Imagine the cholesterol, it could kill me. Worse, it'd make me fat. Do you want to make me fat? Do you?!" He grinned, pleased with his performance.

"I keep telling her she looks great" he paused.

"Not that I mean anything…" he paused again and found Naruto grinning this time, his usual bright persona making it seem as if he had not a care in the world.

"Uh-huh?" he asked, the grin still evident.

"_Something going on here maybe?_" Naruto thought.

"Look I just meant she didn't need to diet any more, okay?" Chouji explained.

"Okay" Naruto repeated back to him, still smiling.

"Damn it you are annoying, let's go Shikamaru I'm finished" he stood up and started to walk off.

"Sorry man. See ya later" Shikamaru gave a lazy wave with his back to Naruto as he followed Chouji.

"Hey guys wait, wait! I was only kidding…" He chuckled to himself "Ayame, am I annoying?"

"You're our best customer; to us you're the least annoying person in the world. Though you can be a bit slow"

"Huh, what?"

"Nothing, don't worry" she said smiling.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sakura, Kakashi, Neji and Tenten had made it to the Hokage's office and both Sakura and Kakashi had just finished reporting their mission, Sakura filling in the gaps of Kakashi's story with how she and Chiyo-baa-sama had fought Sasori.

"So the Kazekage survived, after that amount of time?" the Hokage asked.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama. It seems Chiyo's technique managed to completely restore him even after he had been dead for far longer than possible for normal resuscitation techniques to work on him" she explained.

"_I __really__ wish I could know how that technique was done"_ Sakura found herself thinking.

"It seems we still have some things to learn from the sand village then" Tsunade commented.

"_Blasted old baggage! How did she keep something so hot under wraps for so long?"_ she fumed, turning to Tenten and Neji.

"And your team?" she enquired. Tenten stepped forward.

"We ended up fighting this fishy-looking guy with a massive sword" the blonde Hokage noticed she looked slightly ashamed.

"But we – I mean; Me, Neji and Lee got caught in one of his techniques, so Guy-sensei had to fight him alone".

"How did you escape his technique?" asked Tsunade, eyebrows raised.

"Er… Neji saved me. And Lee, while Guy was fighting" she replied.

"I see"

"Then after the man-" Tenten continued, filling the silence.

"His name is Kisame" Kakashi interjected.

"Right. After Kisame was defeated his body turned into a different corpse just like Itachi with you guys" she nodded towards Kakashi and Sakura.

"Then what happened?"

"Well, you've heard the bit with the removal of the seals to get into the cave but after the seals were removed, copies of us appeared".

"Copies" Tsunade looked surprised.

"Yeah, not replications, or someone else transformed. They had our techniques, our weapons and our strength" Tenten frowned.

"But they didn't tire at all". Neji stepped forward as Tenten stopped.

"Anyway, we did defeat them eventually and then rejoined team Kakashi. You've heard the rest from there I believe" he finished. Tsunade smiled.

"Yes. You may go, your mission was successful. Congratulations" both ninja bowed and then left. The blonde woman turned back to Sakura and Kakashi with a more serious look.

"About this business of a contact of Sasori's, have you told Naruto yet?" she asked.

"No, what with the funeral and making sure that Gaara was okay I didn't tell him" Sakura answered.

"_I actually feel kinda guilty about that" _the pink haired girl thought to herself. She knew Naruto would want every little bit of information that would lead towards Sasuke. Tsunade sighed, seemingly relieved.

"Good, keep it that way" she told the two of them.

"What!?" Both Sakura and Kakashi looked surprised.

"You know how much finding Sasuke means to him… To all of us…" Sakura pleaded.

"_How could she consider doing this to him?"_ She thought, bewildered. Sakura paused as Tsunade held a hand up.

"I know, but imagine Naruto finds out about someone who is a contact of Sasori's, an Akatsuki member and who works with Orochimaru. Even if he is a spy, what do you think Naruto would think of him? What do you think he would do?" It was basically a rhetorical question but it got answered anyway.

"He wouldn't think at all" Kakashi answered.

"and he would beat the crap out of the guy to get any info" next to the silver haired Jounin, Sakura smiled slightly

"_He_ _would do that"_ she admitted to herself; it was part of his character. He wore his heart on his sleeve and then shouted out what everyone else could already see, just in case they were blind. Tsunade smiled.

"Yes, and we need this information. From a live informant" the other two nodded.

"So what do we do? We will go in a team of at least three, right? This is an important mission and if Naruto isn't going then we need a replacement" Kakashi nodded again.

"There also needs to be a credible excuse for why his replacement is replacing him" Kakashi added.

"I know Naruto's slow but we don't want him catching on". The Hokage leaned back, and pondered for a moment.

"How about Kiba then? That way you get a four member team, including Akamaru and the excuse that you need him for tracking" Tsunade looked to both of them for approval.

"Kiba also has a similar approach to Naruto in terms of techniques and attitude, so it would probably balance the team the same way Naruto does" Kakashi agreed.

"But without Naruto's emotional baggage" Tsunade added.

But Sakura was a little more apprehensive, she had not really worked with the Inuzuka before, though she did see the sense in what was being suggested.

"_He was part of the team that tried to get Sasuke-kun back as well"_ she considered. She added her opinion.

"Okay, if it's really necessary. We could add that it's a teamwork exercise, I haven't really worked with Kiba before" she put forward.

"_I still don't entirely agree with leaving Naruto out though, there'll be hell to pay if he finds out"_ she thought as loudly as possible.

"If this mission does give us something Naruto will be part of the team that brings him back though, right? You can't take that away from him" Sakura asked. Tsunade nodded.

"Of course Sakura, but this is a sensitive mission and I still don't think Naruto can handle sensitive where Sasuke is concerned" she replied.

"_He really cares too much, it affects his judgement and judgement is needed for this particular mission"._ The Hokage nodded.

"He will definitely be part of any team tasked with retrieving Sasuke" she assured the two of them, and opposite her Sakura appeared satisfied.

"Well, ok then" she conceded.

"_I just __have__ to make sure that this mission produces results"_ she thought to herself.

"Then it's settled, I will send a message out to Inuzuka Kiba now and have him briefed here" Tsunade smiled.

"Get some good rest - you leave tomorrow".

XXXXXXXXXX

Yeah, that's it for now. If you think it's a little slow that's cos it's meant to be. I've read too many stories that have the relationships start like that (imagine someone snapping a finger). I want it to be more drawn out and more credible. That's the plan at least. There will also be fighting eventually (for the more bloodthirsty of you).

Let me know how I'm doing.

Later.


	2. New Missions

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime. Do you?

By the way Natsuko Nishi pointed out that I was saying Guy instead of Gai. Since you pointed it out, I figured I'd change it. The reviews you've given have been really positive, thank you.

Chapter 2: New Missions

"So we find this guy… Sasori's contact, get the information on Orochimaru's whereabouts and then report back?" Kiba looked at Kakashi and Sakura questioningly, gaining a small nod from each.

"Isn't this a bit easy for us then? Do you really need the two of us?" he asked. Akamaru growled his agreement, accelerating to move next to Kiba.

"Yeah, easy" Sakura muttered sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she jumped off another branch.

"_He's making so light of how important it is to all of us to get Sasuke-kun back"_ she thought angrily. Sometimes Kiba was so similar to Naruto, which was probably why they fought so much around each other. They both acted as if they were invincible. The pink haired girl tried to explain.

"It could get more complicated quite easily: If he doesn't like the fact his master was killed by us, if Orochimaru finds out about the meeting, if we say the wrong thing… Potentially anything could go wrong, we're walking into the unknown really" he admitted.

"_I hope Tsunade drilled home how important this mission is to him, if he keeps treating this mission like an outing Sakura is going to get annoyed. Then I might have to get involved…_ Kakashi thought, turning to Kiba.

"Though it was a bit of a pretext yours and Akamaru's noses will be useful in the event of any problems" he added. Kakashi frowned, now taking a longer look at the two team eight members.

"_There's something else different about these two"_ he thought.

"_For one thing Akamaru __has__ gotten bigger but he shouldn't be __that__ heavy. And his fur looks strange…"_ Kakashi's thoughts tailed off. Unaware of the scrutiny he was receiving Kiba grinned.

"Well we've been wanting to get Orochimaru's bastards back ever since the original Sasuke incident, haven't we?" he asked Akamaru. This earned another growl from Akamaru.

"_I promised I would never let anything happen to you, if we get this done then I really can move on from what happened on that day"_ Kiba thought to himself.

"He has got a hell of a lot bigger since then, I'll admit" Sakura commented. She could see even the larger branches were visibly bending as Akamaru jumped from them.

"What have you been feeding him?" she asked.

"Ha! Family secret" Kiba laughed.

"_But it is in the food"_ he silently congratulated the girl before continuing.

"He hasn't just got bigger though, we've both got stronger. I reckon I could easily challenge Naruto now, even if he's been trained by that Sannin guy" he boasted, and next to him Akamaru barked something.

"Yeah! You're right" Kiba called back.

"_These two __haven't__ seen what we can do yet" _he agreed, speeding up and overtaking Kakashi and Sakura.

"Yahoo!" he called out, Akamaru lending his voice to the shout.

"Hey, wait up!" Sakura called ahead.

"Damn it!" she muttered.

"_They're __both__ dogs really"_ she looked across as the silver haired Jounin next to her commented on the pair.

"We've replaced one nuisance with another" Kakashi observed dryly.

"Well, let's catch up, we should probably pick up the pace anyway, it'll take at least a week to get there" he informed Sakura.

"_I just hope there's no more tension between Kiba and Sakura…"_ he thought as he jumped off, still thinking.

"_Please let this lead to Sasuke-kun" _Sakura found herself praying.

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, back in Konoha…

"WHAT!? Tsunade no baa-chan!" Naruto shouted.

"_I have to admit he is pretty furious, he has __got__ to stop calling me old though" _the Hokage said to herself.

"Why did you send them off on a mission without me?" Naruto asked as he started counting on his fingers.

"One, we just started working together again. Two, if you need tracking specialists why not send the entire of team 8? Three, what am I going to do without a team now? Huh?" he paused, waiting for a response with his arms crossed and 'I'm pissed off' written all over his face. Opposite him, Tsunade sighed.

"_Good thing I've got a prepared answer"_ she momentarily consoled herself before speaking.

"The mission required the knowledge of both Sakura and Kakashi but also required superior tracking powers, which you don't have" she explained. Naruto began open his mouth, but was quickly interrupted.

"If you're going to ask about pakkun then you mustn't think that Akamaru has progressed at all" Shizune pointed out. Naruto shut his mouth.

"Plus, a four man team was required and Akamaru and Kiba fit the bill perfectly" the dark haired Kunoichi smiled.

"_I think we've got him"_ both the Hokage and her assistant thought.

"Yeah, but they left without a word" he murmured, looking down to the ground.

"_I missed Sakura, and Kakashi. I only got one mission with the two of them"_ he thought sadly. Tsunade spoke up again.

"Look, it won't be for all that long and there are other people that you haven't seen since you got back, right?" she enquired. Naruto looked up.

"Not just that, but you're not actually a Chuunin yet, right?" she asked rhetorically. This got a grimace as a response.

"_That's a stupid question…"_ the blonde thought to himself. But again she got in before Naruto could start an outburst.

"The next Chuunin exam is in two weeks, if you can find yourself two other members for a team you can be rid of the embarrassing fact that you're the only Genin left of your group" she baited him.

"_And now we've distracted him, this should stop too many questions"_ she hoped.

Naruto looked stunned "How am I going to find two other people in two weeks?" he asked, while Tsunade silently congratulated herself for distracting the boy.

"I don't know, talk to people" she suggested.

"Look I'm the Hokage, I have other business to attend to you know" she pointed out, and Shizune started to shoo him towards the door.

"Later" Tsunade trilled as he left the room.

"Sorry Naruto" Shizune apologised, before shutting the door in his face.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_Damn it, where __am__ I going to find another two team members?"_ Naruto asked himself, thinking for a moment.

"_I'll ask Shikamaru if he knows if there are any Genins missing team members that want to do the exam"_ he decided turning from the Hokage's door.

"_Damn that old woman she's no help at all… Huh?"_ his angry thoughts were broken by an odd sensation and turned around uncertainly.

"Hello?" he called out.

"_I just got the strangest feeling that someone was watching me"_ he thought to himself. The blonde shook his head.

"Probably nothing… Ah well" he muttered.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Lee! How many times do you have to try the impossible before you realise its impossible?" Tenten called up.

"_Gai-sensei doesn't even need to be around for him to do it"_ she thought for a second _"I'm glad he isn't though, I don't think my ears could handle it"_ she winced at the thought.

"What, you don't want to be better than the you of yesterday?" Lee managed to pant as he climbed. Tenten squinted as Lee moved at impressive speed.

"I do, but I'd rather set realistic targets so I feel I've achieved something. Don't you ever get tired of failing pretty much every 'challenge' you set yourself?" she had to shout the last part as Lee moved up.

"_I guess that's how he reached that level though…"_ she admitted silently.

"Drop it Tenten" Neji advised wearily.

"Look, do you want to go train - we should leave him to it. I have no idea how we always end up watching him" Tenten nodded.

"Okay" she turned back to look up at Lee.

"See ya later Lee!" she shouted up.

"Only seven hundred and sixty-seven more times up the Hokage Mountain" Lee called back down.

"_I shall increase my leg weights tomorrow as well!"_ he thought.

"Whatever Lee" Neji called back.

"We will see you later" So, he was going to be alone with Tenten again.

"_Well there are worse things than being with her"_ he thought to himself, the image of Gai rising horribly in his mind.

"_And it allows me to practice quite well"_ he considered. Nevertheless something seemed to have changed between them after he had saved her from Kisames' water technique. It had only been a moment but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Hey, Neji" he turned at the sound of his name.

"I was talking, it's not like you to space out like that" Tenten smiled. He smiled back in the way that only he can, the smile that gives away nothing.

"Sorry, go on" he apologised as they both continued walking.

"Right, I was saying that I've come up with something that could really test you out this time" she laughed as he raised an eyebrow.

"Come on, you may be a Jounin but that doesn't mean you're completely outta my league" she punched him lightly on the arm.

"See, I even landed a hit there" she grinned playfully. Then to Neji's surprise suddenly she stopped, causing him to stop to turn towards her. For some reason she seemed embarrassed.

"…you know, I never properly thanked you for saving me from that water prison technique. I don't think I could have lasted much longer in there" she blushed slightly at admitting it.

"Not that I can't beat you in a one-on one though!" she said, returning to normal.

"We will see" he replied giving her a warmer smile. But Tenten only had a few seconds to be surprised before-

"Heeeey! Guys!" They both turned to see Naruto running towards them.

"Oh, hi Naruto" Tenten turned quickly to Naruto, who noticed the sudden turn.

"_She seems a bit jumpy, what's up with her?"_ Naruto found himself thinking.

"_Anyway…" _he dismissed it.

"Have either of you seen Shikamaru, I'm trying to find other people who… er… are taking the Chuunin exam who don't have team-mates" he admitted.

"Oh yeeeeeah, you're not a Chuunin yet huh Naruto?" Tenten teased.

"_He'll be fine though" _she thought.

"_He definitely __looks__ stronger"_ but her thoughts were interrupted by Neji.

"We are going Tenten. Training, remember?" the Hyuuga briefly turned to Naruto.

"Shikamaru has gone to the sand village to gather the Chuunin exam participants from there. He'll be back in a week I think. So long" he turned back to Tenten who was waiting.

"Let's go" he motioned.

"_Looks like he's back to normal"_ Tenten observed.

"_That was a bit unnerving, Neji showing some warmth…"_

"Okay. Bye Naruto" Tenten nodded to the blonde.

XXXXXXXXXX

As Neji and Tenten left Naruto cursed Shikamaru for leaving.

"_He probably agreed to it to check up on Temari, wonder if he actually believed that she got herself a boyfriend. Most guys would run a mile, she can be scary as hell" _he smiled to himself at the thought.

"_I still need to find other people taking the Chuunin exam though. Wait! What about Iruka-sensei? He might-" _but his thoughts were interrupted again by the feeling of someone watching him. He turned around and peered into the woods.

"Hello!?" he called out for the second time that day.

"_No! He's actually going to find me this time. When did his senses get this much better, I never used to get caught" _she couldn't help but admire him for it though, his instincts were good, and could only have improved with tutelage from Jiraiya.

"_I better come out"_ she thought, resigned. And with that Hinata moved from behind the tree, blushing.

"_Why couldn't I just come out normally and say hi?"_ she asked herself.

"Oh, hi. Er…" Naruto paused.

"_Who is that?" _he thought.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"_Damn it" _he thought angrily.

"_Why can't I keep a thought to myself? She's good looking and I know I could've done better than that" _This thought was followed closely by:

"_Good looking? Crap, Ero-Sennin must've had more of an effect than I thought"_

Meanwhile Narutos' words were having a destructive effect on Hinata.

"_**Who are you?"**_ seemed to keep running through her head. He didn't even recognise her, she who hadn't stopped thinking of him since he left two and a half years back. It felt like the bottom of her stomach had dropped out.

"_I've got to say __something__ I can't let myself not speak again, even if he's forgotten about me. I've got to say hi…" _the long haired girl thought desperately, straightening up as Naruto returned from his reverie.

"I-It's me N-Naruto-kun, H-Hinata" she sighed.

"_At least I spoke, though the stuttering makes me sound so silly…"_ she chided herself. Opposite her, Narutos' eyes widened.

"Hinata!?" and suddenly all the things he had missed seemed to glare out at him.

"_The blushing, the stuttering speech, the way she twiddles her fingers, wait a minute…" _he stopped, realising what had just thought.

"_Oh my god I just thought Hinata was good looking?"_ he asked himself.

"You've…" he swallowed.

"Changed…" he managed. Hinata looked down at herself.

"_No I haven't. I still can't talk to you properly"_ she thought sadly.

"R-Really?" she sighed inside and took a few more tentative steps towards him until she was on the path.

"Yeah… The hair…" he started.

"_It's really long, kinda shimmery…"_ he thought, before cutting himself off and making an internal promise to get Jiraiya back for perverting him.

"Your clothes…" He looked into her eyes and found they matched what she was wearing; her clothes were a slightly darker shade.

"You look…" Naruto paused, cogs turning. Hinata waited frantically for the rest of the sentence.

"_I look what? What's wrong?"_ she resisted the urge to look herself over again.

"Y-Yes?" she stammered.

'Click' Naruto's brain managed.

"I knocked you over yesterday!" he exclaimed pointing.

"Huh?" the indigo haired girl looked confused.

"_What was he going to say?"_ she asked herself.

"You were the girl in the lilac top that I knocked over on my way to Ichiraku's. I'm really sorry, I was gonna go back and apologise properly but I got distracted. I didn't hurt you did I?" this was all delivered at some speed, but after a long period of Naruto shadowing, Hinata could decipher it.

"D-Don't worry, I'm F-Fine. R-Really" she added noting his concerned look.

"Oh, phew" he breathed a sigh of relief.

"_He has really grown, he looks good…"_ Hinata told herself.

"Anyway, I'll talk to ya properly later Hinata. I'm actually in the middle of something" he admitted. He stopped mid-turn as she spoke again:

"I-I know, I overheard you talking to Neji-nii-san" she blushed a deeper colour than before.

"_I hope he doesn't mind that I heard them"_ she worried.

"Oh, what were you doing back there anyway?" he asked, genuinely wondering about the reasons behind her concealment.

"I-I was just… A-Around, you know" she stuttered.

"_Please don't think I was spying, or being weird…"_ she requested silently giving him a small broken smile before returning to looking at her feet.

"Um… If you need to take the Chuunin exam with someone, I'll do it" she blurted out, so fast that she didn't even stammer.

"_I did it!" _Hinata congratulated herself, blushing crimson.

"What?" he asked.

"_What is she on about"_ he thought to himself, stunned. All thoughts of Hinata appearing from nowhere were now forgotten. She looked back up at him.

"Aren't you already a Chuunin Hinata?" he enquired.

"Um… Yes, b-but…" she paused and Naruto saw some sort of internal battle going on.

"I-I have my reasons" she answered, giving him another smile.

"Well, okay… If you really think it's necessary. Arigato Hinata" he thanked her.

"_I have no idea why she's offering to do this but it's as good an opportunity as I'm going to get"_ he smiled down at her causing her to blush even deeper.

"But we still need another member" he pointed out.

"I know" she said quietly _"And I think I might know where to get one…"_ she thought to herself.

"How about we both try to find people who want to take the exam? If we meet in a few days we can discuss who we've found and decide who we want on our team. Sound good?" he asked.

"H-Hai" came the reply. Naruto smiled.

"Don't be so nervous, it's only an exam. We've done it before right?" He patted her on the shoulder.

"See ya later Hinata!" and with that he ran off.

"Bye, Naruto-kun" was the almost silent response.

"_I survived the whole thing without fainting. Thank god. And I'm going to be taking the Chuunin exam with him"_ that thought alone almost made her faint.

"_I have to be strong if I'm doing this"_ she told herself.

Meanwhile, Naruto was still wondering about their meeting.

"_How come I had those thoughts about Hinata?"_ Naruto thought after he left.

"_I didn't know it was her though"_ he reasoned with himself.

"_But what does that mean?"_ he shook his head as he walked off.

"_I need to get on with finding another team member"_ he decided.

XXXXXXXXXX

Shino stepped out from behind another tree.

"_So Hinata is still concerned about __that__?"_ he threw his arms out, and the bugs he had used for listening to the entire conversation came out of the trees and moved inside his jacket.

"_She has lost none of her feelings for Naruto either"_ he frowned, remembering that Naruto had asked her who she was.

"_Although, she has changed. And become stronger, though some may not see it"_ he came to a decision.

"_I will have to talk to Naruto, and make him understand how important this is to her…"_

XXXXXXXXXX

Yep, so that's Chapter 2. I'm actually starting to come up with an actual plot now. See if you can guess my favourite pairing. No prizes, sorry. Try an guess the other parings too. The idea is to have each chapter around 2500-3000 words. I'm really impressed by writers that can write for longer. I won't make people wait for a shorter chapter. Hope my writing's up to standard. Oh, there really will be fighting, honest.

Later.


	3. Mistakes

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime. Ha, you can't sue me for copyright (right?).

Chapter 3: Mistakes

Neji and Tenten were both standing in the middle of a clearing in the forest just outside Konoha. The fight hadn't started yet though for some reason she had found that recently she couldn't stop talking when she was alone with him.

"…cos I've never seen Gai-sensei with a woman before, doesn't that make you suspicious too?" She laughed nervously.

"Sorry, let's do this. Right?" she asked.

"Right" Neji replied. But strangely, he found himself disappointed that she had stopped. Though she did come up with some strange things to bring up in conversation…

"_I actually find her talking quite soothing; it is a good change from the atmosphere at home and from the pure insanity that is Gai-sensei and Lee. I probably would have gone mad without her"_ he told himself. The long haired boy looked up at a sudden noise.

"Here I come!" Tenten shouted, having thrown herself into the air and lifted the massive scroll off her back. Neji almost visibly shook himself to bring himself back to reality.

"Byakugan!" he murmured, readying himself to respond to her attacks.

First were some basic shuriken and kunai, which he managed to dodge without the need for the chakra whirl.

"_I guess I have that spider guy to thank for making me realize I don't need to overuse my techniques"_ he considered, smiling as he noticed the wires she had thrown out across the trees while he had been dodging.

"Don't worry, only just starting" Tenten called down.

Next was a barrage of shuriken from above and in front, though it seemed some were off target. He looked closer, focusing him doujutsu.

"_They have wires on them"_ Neji told himself, readying his response. He dodged the ones from the front and in one swift movement stepped back from the ones above and cut the wires that the other shuriken had dragged behind him with a jyuuken strike low to the floor. He completed the movement by doing a full back-flip off of his now floored hands. Tenten couldn't help but be impressed: her move would have cornered anyone else or at the very least thrown them off balance. She saw him tense.

"_He's seen me!"_ she realised.

Neji spotted Tenten moving through the trees and aimed a blast of wind at her. It took him a split second to realize the wires were there to allow her to move quickly away.

"_She can keep her distance this way. Not a bad idea"_ he conceded.

Tenten dodged and then stopped, and if it wasn't for his eye technique it would have appeared as if she was suspended on air.

"Sorry, not good enough" she shouted again, and used the wires to which she was attached to swing further away.

"Interesting, using the wires to dodge my attacks" Neji called up.

"You like the idea?" she laughed.

"How 'bout this?" she asked, and swung down low tugging wires as she went. This time she ended up sideways, swinging round him and gaining speed by pushing off trees. The scroll was out again, but this time it was moving all 360º around him and the entire scroll exploded.

"_Ah"_ he thought.

"Kaiten!" Neji shouted as he began to spin. He checked where she was, she had moved herself outside the radius of the attack.

"_Good, don't want to injure her"_ he thought, taking another quick look around. Two iron balls with spikes in were moving round behind him, she had calculated it so that they would hit as his spin ended. And there was an explosive note directly above. He looked back to her. She was planning something. He felt himself slowing down.

"_Right"_ he thought. First were the ball spikes.

"_Can't jump, and these spikes have got wires, no time to go to the side"_ he smiled to himself seeing Tenten jump from her branch.

'Wham!' 'Wham!'

"_That's the two balls, one foot, one hand" _he told himself, throwing another hand up to blast the imminently exploding note with his air Jutsu, and then rolled with the momentum created in dodging the attacks onto his shoulder and then back to his feet.

"This is it Neji! New technique time" the bun haired girl shouted, and he realised that his brain had processed the information about a second after she had said it. Fortunately his eyes had kept time with the mass exploding kunai attack and he braced himself again.

"_No time for a spin"_ he realised, and concentrated to release as much chakra as possible, watching with satisfaction as the weapons rebounded and exploded. He stole a look at her face locked in perfect concentration and was momentarily distracted.

"_Wait. New technique?"_

"There" she shouted and the out of the kunai not five feet away came more summoned kunai.

"_Shiiiiiit" _Neji dropped a shoulder and hit as many as possible with open palms. But they were not all going to miss. The young Hyuuga boy heard a horrible tearing noise and felt a terrible pain in the upper part of his chest before his vision went black.

"_That must've given him something to think about, it's not just exploding seals on the kunai, its summoning seals too!" _Tenten thought triumphantly.

"_Pity I couldn't see the result, all that smoke"_ she reflected. Looking down, her exultation turned to concern.

"_Where is he? Normally this is about the time he's managed to get into my blind spot using this smoke as a cover" _she briefly thought about new tactics.

"_I shouldn't use explosive notes against him really"_ she considered.

"Neji?" she called out, more worriedly now.

"You can come out now!" she advised, hopping down to the ground.

The smoke cleared.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_Okay, I said to Hinata that we both have to find people who want to take the exam, who don't have a team"_ he smiled to himself.

"_Why am I so fired up to do this?"_ he asked himself. An image of Gaara floated into his mind. In the time that he had been training Gaara had made it to Kazekage level. Naruto knew it wasn't a fluke, or that the Sand village was weak. Gaara had proven his strength to the village if the story about his fight with Deidara was anything to go by. The blonde wasn't jealous either; he knew how tough it had been for Gaara and he knew that he had improved during his training. For Naruto, Gaara was another competitor.

"_Like Sasuke" _he sighed inwardly.

"_I guess I've gotta catch up. To both of them"_ he told himself. But he knew that wanting to catch up wasn't the only reason he was so excited, though he couldn't quite work out what the other reason was.

"_Anyway"_ he thought.

"_Who do I know who would want to take this exam?"_ he asked himself, thinking.

"_What about Konohamaru? He's a Genin now, and __we__ all took the exam early"_ Naruto reasoned, thinking of the rookie nine.

"Right!" he decided, marching off in search of his junior friend.

XXXXXXXXXX

Shikamaru was back in Suna, but, as he was desperately trying to tell himself:

"_I am __not__ here to check up on Temari"_ he rolled his eyes in response to the thought, he couldn't fool himself. It was like playing yourself at Chess, you always knew what your opponent was thinking, because he was you. Still, he did have a mission to do here. Though he had kind of tricked her into sending him on this mission Tsunade-sama would have his head if anything happened to the Sand Genin while they were on their way to Konoha.

"Do you have the list of all the people that will be coming from this village?" he asked the girl opposite him.

"Yeah, there are five teams that we need to protect. They will have their sensei's with them so I think that us two as well as an ANBU team should be enough protection" she told him.

It was a sad fact that low level fighting between the major villages was still going on outside the accepted arena of the exams. A common tactic was to undermine a village's power by sabotaging their talent.

"_The period in which exam entries are travelling can be more dangerous than the exams themselves"_ Shikamaru thought. And as a result, protecting against such tactics had to be looked into. Once at the exam itself, attempts on examinees lives dropped. This was partially due to the protection of the village and partially because of the difficulty in infiltrating the hidden villages, especially during the exam when security was always stepped up. The Sound and Sand village incident had made Konoha even more wary.

"I need to take a look at the abilities of the people we'll be travelling with? If we do end up in a situation it would be useful" the lazy Chuunin drawled. He raise his eyebrows as Temari shook her head.

"We're not giving information like that to anyone, especially about the Genins, you could pass on things to your Genins" Shikamaru frowned, but he could understand.

"Could you make yourself familiar with their abilities then, we need at least one person with the ability to lead them all in case of emergency" he asked.

"Already done, you know for a smart guy you're always behind me" she laughed. Shikamaru smiled, remembering the exam in which he became a Chuunin.

"_Not always…"_ he thought to himself.

As she bent her head back down to her work Shikamaru braced himself.

"So you're really not going out with that guy you were talking to over there then?" Shikamaru asked lazily, trying to act the same as normal.

"_I'm looking out the window because I'm watching the clouds not because I'm avoiding her eyes"_ he told himself as she looked up.

"No, honestly why do you keep going on about that?" Temari replied, stunned beyond her normal ability to make fun of him.

"_What is up with him at the moment? He's acting like an idiot, it's weird"_ thought the mystified Sand Jounin.

"Even though his name is Keitaro?" he continued, suddenly taking a seemingly detailed interest in some papers on the desk in front of him. Temari noticed that strangely enough, he was in fact making notes.

"Why the hell would his name make any sort of difference?" she wondered aloud, trying and failing to catch his eye.

"Is there something you want to say?" she asked.

"_Honestly… we both like each other; it should be less hard than this. Still, I guess I can have some fun" _she thought. Shikamaru blushed slightly.

"No, not really" he replied.

"Not even to explain your crazy questions which started since you got here about me dating people?" she enquired.

"_Damn it she knows how I feel, though I'm pretty sure she feels the same, still, in public… She makes me act like an idiot" _for some reason Naruto flashed into his mind.

"_No, not quite that stupid"_ he reconsidered, looking around. The office was busy

"Nope" he stated flatly. The blonde stood up.

"A piece of advice, if you like a girl, ask her out. People don't need any of this will they won't they crap" Temari winked, obviously trying to annoy him. He decided not to say anything in case he managed to embarrass himself further.

"Well, if you have any more questions…" she smiled.

"…Do let me know. Anyway I got some stuff to do. Bye" Shikamaru sat there frozen.

"_Was she telling me to ask her out? Didn't see that one coming. Damn that girl!"_ He had to admit though; it was very like her.

"_Even if it is a pain"_ he admitted. Well, now some cogs were turning.

"Bloody women" he muttered.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Hey! Hey! Konohamaru! Over here!" the bescarfed Genin turned around.

"No, not there. Here" Naruto reprimanded, jumping down behind his young friend.

"Whoa!" Konohamaru gasped, taking a step back.

"_Its still really odd seeing him so much taller"_ he considered.

"How are ya doin?" Naruto smiled.

"I've been hearing you've done some very similar missions to what I did in the old days" he grinned at the expression Konohamaru made.

"Yeah, it's so boring. Ebisu-sensei won't let us do anything interesting. You know, we've actually had to pick stupid vegetables. Vegetables!" he revealed, outraged.

"_I remember when I was like that…" _Naruto thought. Konohamaru looked around conspiratorially.

"Actually, I just slipped away from him while he was taking a leak" he grinned.

"Oh yeah you're on your own. Wait, what about Moegi and Udon?" Naruto looked around.

"They said they'd cover for me, they're both good friends" he looked up.

"Anyway, what do you want me for?" he asked.

"The Chuunin exam is coming up you know and well, I need to become a Chuunin and Hinata has said she will take it too" he frowned.

"She's already a Chuunin but she says she has her reasons" he was still wondering whether she could even enter.

"Either way, we need another member…" he looked down at Konohamaru.

"…And you want me?" Konohamaru's face lit up.

"_That's another step towards Hokage!"_ was written all over his face.

"That's awesome, I'd love to; I'll definitely-"

"-not do it". Konohamaru turned his face a mask of horror, which quickly turned to rage.

"God damn it! Don't you ever give up?" Ebisu smiled a thin, evil looking smile.

"Sorry Naruto but he needs a sponsor and though you have the Hokage's assent, this guy doesn't" he grabbed Konohamaru's shoulder just as he tried to make an escape

"No fair! I can do it! Really!" he squirmed, to no effect.

"You will do it when I decide you can. Now…" he said as he walked off with Konohamaru in tow.

"…We have another D-rank mission to complete" he smile thinly.

"Oh god! Gerrof or I'll…" was all that Naruto caught before they turned the corner. He laughed at the scene, before realizing he was no closer to finding another team mate.

"_I hope Hinata's having more luck than me…"_ he smiled.

"_She'll come up with the goods"_ he told himself, trusting the indigo haired girl.

It was only then he wondered what Sakura and Kakashi were up to. He felt less of a pang of loneliness than he expected from that thought.

"_Probably cos I'm busy"_ but again the image of Hinata came to his mind.

"_Damn it, what is up with me?"_ he asked himself.

XXXXXXXXXX

Now that Shikamaru was on a mission Chouji and Ino had decided to make use of some free time and were walking out to some of the training grounds out in the woods. Inevitably, Chouji thought, the conversation had got onto what she was eating.

"See, the diet's working a treat. I lost two pounds over the past few weeks" she boasted.

"_I'm really proud of that, I'm losing all of my baby fat"_ she pirouetted in front of Chouji.

"You can see the difference" she trilled, giving her best smile.

"_Not really…" _Chouji thought, finishing the first bag of crisps and putting it away before pulling out another.

"You shouldn't eat so much of those you know" she told him reproachfully.

"_God, looking at those makes __me__ feel fat"_ Ino looked sceptically at him.

"You know I use my size for my techniques" he said as he started eating.

"Plus, if you're bigger you have more chakra reserves" he shot a look at Ino.

"If you gained a little weight…" he began.

Ino looked horrified "Gain weight!? Are you crazy? Anyway, I don't need size for my techniques" she looked down at her stomach.

"Nope, I need to lose weight" she decided.

"You look great already…" He coughed as Ino took a sideways look at him.

"…and you don't need to lose weight for any of your techniques, so what's the point?" he asked, before Ino walked in front of him.

"_I know he's saying that to be nice, but he's so wrong"_ she told herself.

"Guys go for thin girls, silly. It's the same the other way around" she informed him.

"_He's more muscle than he was before but he is still…fat" _she thought the last word as quietly as possible.

"_Still, I know he __can__ be attractive. And with some effort…" _she stopped.

"_That was a strange thought"_ she told herself.

"Shikamaru doesn't think all guys like thin girls, remember the mission you went on with that fat guy?" he smiled, opening another bag.

"Naruto told you about that!?" she asked, a little shrilly.

"_I'll kill that bastard!"_ she cracked her knuckles.

"Yeah, but I agree with Shikamaru"

"Yeah, well the thing with Shikamaru is-" but she didn't finish her sentence, as a piercing scream tore through the forest.

"I KILLED HIM!!!"

XXXXXXXXXX

A cliff-hanger. Take that (no, not the boy band…). It's weird how long some of my more simple ideas can take much longer to actually flesh out. I am trying to make it slow on purpose though. And what's happened to Sakura, Kiba and Kakashi? Give it time. Anyone who's looking for Naruto and Hinata moments, they are gonna happen. As to the whole Hinata entering the Chuunin exam question, that will also be explained. Does anyone want to know why Hinata's taking it? You'll have to wait. Anyway, finding it interesting? Let me know.

Later.


	4. Revelations

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime. To be honest, that's quite blatantly obvious. Wouldn't it be funny if Masashi Kishimoto was writing on this? Then he wouldn't have to bother with a disclaimer.

Chapter 4: Revelations

*Previously* (sorry a bit of a "Heroes" moment)

"I agree with Shikamaru".

"Yeah, well the thing about Shikamaru is-" she didn't finish her sentence, a piercing scream tore through the forest.

"I KILLED HIM!!!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Chouji looked over to Ino. She was white as a sheet.

"_What the hell was __that__?"_ the blonde girl thought to herself as Chouji grabbed her arm.

"Huh?" Ino seemed to come out of the trance.

"_That was the most awful thing I've __ever__ heard"_ she said to herself, hardly noticing Chouji pulling her along.

"We need to see what's happened, something terrible has happened." He said as Ino seemed to be recovering.

"What if it's an attack? A trick?" she asked. Chouji appeared apprehensive, but only for a split second.

"If anyone can fake that kind of scream they deserve to get us. We need to help." Ino looked into his eyes, he had a resolved look.

"_One thing you can never doubt in Chouji." _she thought with a resolved smile.

"_His kindness."_

She nodded and began running "Right, let's go."

XXXXXXXXXX

The area was littered with kunai and shuriken and the crater from the exploding kunai was still smoking slightly. Tenten found herself frozen for a split second then she sprinted to Neji as fast as she could, throwing herself onto her knees and accidentally cutting herself on shuriken in her haste. She lifted up the fallen Neji in her arms and cradled him, sobbing as she did so. Blood had soaked his chest and was now dripping down onto her stomach and legs but she paid it no attention. Tears were dripping down her face.

"I didn't mean for this to happen, I'm so sorry." she sobbed.

"I've never hit you before, what changed? Please Neji, please wake up. Please…" she burst into a fresh flood of tears, stroking his face dislodging his forehead protector in the process causing it to fall on the floor. Tenten looked through blurry brown eyes at the bloody figure in her arms.

"_He was always trapped by his family, that horrible caged bird seal."_ she closed her eyes, causing more tears to run down her face.

"_Just when I…No, I can't think that now." _she bent down.

"You're free now Neji" she told him pushing aside his hair to kiss his forehead, opening her eyes at the same time.

"_Wait…" _she roughly brushed the tears out of her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Looking back at her was the tool of the Hyuugas that kept the branch family in line. It was still there! The cursed seal had not disappeared… which meant…

"_He's still alive! Oh my god, he needs help!"_ she threw her head into the air.

"HELP ME!!! SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAS HAPPENED!!!" she screamed. She took another look at Neji's body and broke down again.

"Don't die, just wait for help. Please…Please…" she begged.

"HELP ME!!!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Chouji and Ino looked at each other.

"_You were right, well done Chouji"_ Ino thought as they burst forward into the clearing, and into the most horrible scene Chouji had ever seen. Tenten was bent over a bloody Neji, sobbing uncontrollably. It was clear to him she couldn't get any more screams out due to her distress.

"_What the hell happened?"_ he inquired of himself, to his right Ino had gone from his side and was already by Neji.

"Tenten, put him down please. I need to take a look" Ino said as softly as possible. Tenten was still crying silently, her brown eyes red-rimmed.

"NO!! I won't let him go again!" she held him tighter.

"Please, I need to take a look." Ino repeated soothingly.

"She can help him." Chouji added in the same soothing tone. He took hold of Tenten's hands and led her away, though her eyes never left his face.

"Come here. Good." Ino heard Chouji talking to Tenten. She knelt down and took a deep breath. Even though she had become a medical ninja she had never attempted surgery on such a serious case, Shikamaru had always kept them out of situations like that.

"_Not a helpful thought Ino."_ she scolded herself.

"You can do it Ino." she heard off to her right.

"_Chouji. Thank you"_. _"Right. Let's do this, people are depending on me."_ she told herself, pumping chakra to her hands and placing them over the wound, inspecting it while being careful not to disturb the kunai despite the impulse to pull it out. She thanked god that Tenten had been too upset to touch it.

"_I take that out without thinking and he could be in a much worse situation." _she concentrated. The kunai had gone through his chest…

"… _and missed his heart by inches thank god."_

However it had shattered a rib on its way through and there were fragments dangerously close to his heart. Ino congratulated Tenten silently.

"_Even in this situation she had the sense not to move him, he could have died."_ she looked deeper; the kunai had gone so far!

"_Oh shit! It's punctured his lung!" _she turned quickly to where Chouji was comforting Tenten.

"Quick, make a signal, call for a full medical team!" Chouji looked shocked but Tenten's face was a mask of horror.

"NOW damn it" she turned back as Chouji nodded and threw an explosive kunai into the air.

"_The most serious problem is probably the bone fragments around the heart, if they're not gone we'll never be able to move him without definitely killing him."_

She knew that leaving the lung open with blood leaking in was a serious judgement call but she had to stick with her gut. She set to work, pumping chakra into her hands.

"_Control! It's all about control! That's all very well for a FISH!"_ she drew the bone fragments upwards, along the path that they had taken through his chest.

"_If his lung is filling with blood I have no time to reattach these bones to his ribs. Right."_ she pulled the bone fragments through the wound in his chest, and then placed them on her knee. She breathed out slowly, trying to ignore Tenten's stifled sobs in the background.

"_Next…" _she couldn't pull the blood out of his lung using chakra without doing his lung serious, irreparable damage. If she moved him he could choke on his own blood.

"_If only I had a surgical vacuum to suck it out with…" _she would have to leave it, if the medical team was on the way… she prayed. Then they would have the equipment she needed to at least move him.

"_For now I have to seal this wound and remove this kunai." _she set to work again, steadying her hands as she had been taught and applying chakra to the required areas.

"_Wait for it…NOW!" _she pulled out the kunai quickly but cleanly and then sent a quick burst of chakra inside to cauterise the wound. She sighed.

"_Okay, now just to wait for-"_ she allowed herself a quick smile.

"Good, you're here." she turned to the medical team.

"I need a surgical vacuum now!" It was almost a law that the person who started treatment at the scene had seniority. It didn't quite go up to Hokage, but only because the current Hokage was a medical genius.

"Of course." the man replied, handing her one.

"What happened?" he moved beside her

"Kunai to the chest that thankfully missed the heart, chunks of bone near it though. They're gone" she inserted the vacuum into his lung.

"Biggest problem we had after that was the blood in his lungs" she patted the machine.

Suddenly Ino took a quick look down and checked his mouth.

"Shit! He's stopped breathing!"

"_How many things…"_ she cursed inwardly as she started artificial breathing.

"_Come on!"_ she screamed inside her head. She tried again.

"_Come ON!"_ she heard a little cough and felt her face splatter with blood.

"_YES!"_ the very worst was over.

"_But this is no time to calm down."_ she reminded herself, healing the puncture as she removed the vacuum.

"Get him on a stretcher, now!" Ino looked over to Tenten and pointed.

"Her too, give her something to calm her down and then take her to the hospital" she watched as Tenten was given a drink then led to a stretcher, where she fell unconscious. Neji was already gone. She could relax. Ino looked at her hands; they were covered in blood.

"_How long have they been like that?"_ she wondered. She realised she was shaking too; adrenalin had been coursing through her and it was finally taking its toll. How she had not killed Neji like this, she didn't know.

"_God, I'm a wreck."_

"I did it!"

"_I really did it!"_ she finally breathed out.

"You were awesome Ino" Chouji was standing there with, yes, she thought, definitely an awestruck expression. Ino smiled.

"I feel so tired…" she fell forward, but Chouji was there to catch her.

"Thanks" she mumbled into his chest clutching him.

"Don't worry about it" he smiled, lifting her up

"No…" she paused.

"…for believing in me, I was so scared. Really. Thank you." she closed her eyes putting her arms around his neck.

"Er… Ino?" Chouji managed. He looked down, she was asleep

XXXXXXXXXX

Back in village Naruto realised that his only idea had gone completely out of the window. Of course when he was stuck over what to do it was off to Ichiraku's.

"_You may not be any smarter, but you're definitely not hungry after you've eaten." _He told himself.As he finished his meal he wondered if Hinata was doing better than him. He gestured to Teuchi

"Thanks for the meal old man, that was great!" he patted his stomach. The ramen bar owner smiled.

"No problem Naruto, see you soon."

"See ya!" he jumped off the seat and started walking back home.

"_Well, I haven't got any more leads. I may as well go home, I'll meet Hinata tomorrow and apologise."_ he felt really bad that he hadn't been able to come through for her. He imagined the look of disappointment on her face.

"_Damn it! But there's nothing I can do"_ he looked up at the Hokage Mountain, lost in thought.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_Found him, that took longer than expected. Looks like he __has__ become stronger."_ Shino dropped off the roof in front of Naruto.

"Whoa!" Naruto staggered backwards and fell over in the least dignified way possible, right on his ass. He looked up.

"_I may not have recognised Hinata immediately but there is no way in hell you can mistake __this__ guy for __anyone__ else. If anything he looks even creepier with the whole hood thing, and those sunglasses…"_ his train of thought was broken by Shino saying something.

"Huh? Sorry, say again?"

Shino stopped.

"_I hate repeating myself."_ he though in annoyance. There was something about Naruto that just clashed with his personality. Of course he would never let that show.

"_Except that one time." _he remembered threatening Naruto after revealing he actually had some sense of humour. He grimaced. Inwardly.

"I said we need to talk." he offered a hand to Naruto.

"We do?" Naruto took his hand and was pulled up. He brushed himself off.

"Yes"

"_He's really not mincing his words, huh?"_

"Here?" Naruto asked questioningly.

"It's about Hinata." Shino was sticking to what he knew, blunt. Or direct, it depended on who was analysing it.

Naruto's mind went into overdrive "What about Hinata? Is she ok? She is still entering the exam right?"

"_If she pulls out I'm back to square one, I'd be screwed."_

"I can confidently say that Hinata is definitely taking the exam." Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

"I believe you asked her why she was taking it though." Shino added. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah" he paused.

"But all she said was that she had her reasons" he frowned

"Yes, she does."

"_I wish he wouldn't do that."_ Naruto thought.

"And they are…?" Naruto was getting quite exasperated

"You don't know how Hinata became a Chuunin do you?" Shino asked, folding his arms. He was well aware of the answer.

"No, I've been away for two and a half years. It's hard to keep up with everything when you're gone so long" he smiled but Shino stayed silent and the joke died in the air.

"Then listen to me." he indicated a café.

"Do you want to sit down? This needs explaining properly." Naruto found himself caught off-balance.

"Yeah, er… okay" he agreed tentatively.

As they both sat down Shino started explaining.

"What with various missions, errands and other things we all missed the Chuunin exam after you left. However a year, or two exams later, after you had left we, that is - my team, Neji's team, Chouji, Ino and Sakura - retook the Chuunin exam."

"Who did Sakura go with?" Naruto interrupted. Shino felt his patience was being tested on purpose.

"She joined Ino and Chouji" he repressed the urge to sigh.

"But that is not important. Anyway, we all retook the exam. Needless to say, we passed the first part. For the second part, I can only tell you about my team. But, since we are talking about Hinata that is fine." he paused for a second to order a drink from a passing waitress while Naruto wondered where he was going with this.

"What would you say Hinata's greatest weakness is?" Naruto looked up, surprised.

"Er… I dunno" he considered for a moment.

"_She's strong enough, she can use Jyuuken and that other technique of hers. That's not it. Teamwork? No she listens to everyone. She's not stupid either, she had answers to the test during the last exam I took." _he thought back to missions he had been on with her.

"_She was always strong."_

"I dunno, I give up." he leaned back in his chair.

"It's her confidence. After being considered weak by her father she has had confidence issues ever since I met her." Naruto looked surprised.

"_You never really see it, when she is around you she gains something." _Shino thought to himself.

"So she's a little unconfident sometimes, what does that have to do with the Chuunin exam?"

"We managed to get through the second exam as a team, any time Hinata felt she was not strong enough or was being a burden; she had friends around -us- to reassure her. That's why you never really saw it so much when you were on missions with her - you were there to reassure her."

"_You are a source of her strength." _Shino knew, though Naruto had been oblivious since day one.

"Like I said, we made it through the second exam and into the final exam, the knockout competition. We had nine leaf ninja that year after the preliminaries and twelve ninja total. Hinata's fight in the main exam was last, against a lightning country ninja that had proved to be a bit sadistic. My fight was near the middle and Kiba was just before her."

"Ok, but really, where is this going?" Naruto asked, impatience getting the better of him.

"_Are you gonna tell me the entire story of how you became a Chuunin?" _ Shino ignored him, he remembered his fight like it was yesterday.

"I was up against Tenten but the fight took longer than I expected. Any time my bugs got near her she used a combination of replacements to get away or explosives to kill the bugs. I won in the end, but just to stop your questions, due to the foresight in keeping away from my attacks Tenten showed, she was given Chuunin rank also. The problem was that I had taken too many indirect hits from explosions; she got a number of attacks in that I honestly hadn't expected. The end result was that I was hospitalised due to extreme chakra exhaustion and a few broken bones." Naruto wondered where this was going and he was about to interrupt again when Shino held a hand up.

"Kiba's fight was against Ino." he baulked as Naruto began to laugh.

"What? How badly did Ino get pummelled?" he nearly started laughing again before he was interrupted.

"At first it did seem one-sided, but Kiba couldn't make a direct hit and Ino was managing to heal herself when she was glanced by his attacks. When he did finally get serious Ino managed to make Kiba think that Akamaru wasn't there, and vice versa. That made it a lot easier for her to dodge two sets of un-co-ordinated attacks and attack back" Naruto sat back as Shino continued.

"The judges were impressed by this fight, Ino had come up with a winning strategy which merited her becoming a Chuunin, her plan was to take each of them out separately as they would normally protect each other which they couldn't do."

"So what happened?"

"Kiba did manage to work out a way of co-ordinating himself with Akamaru, he almost discarded his other senses and relied entirely on smell, pumping chakra there and eliminating Ino's genjutsu hold over his nose." Naruto looked sceptical but Shino continued.

"Kiba told me afterwards, and I have no reason to disbelieve him, that he was able to smell where Akamaru was, even though he had normally got used to his scent, and predict his attacks. That allowed Kiba to time his attacks with Akamaru's. Ino wasn't expecting it and was defeated. Unfortunately due to the repeated effects of the techniques Ino had used he became confused about who he was and had to be hospitalised."

Naruto frowned "I'm confused; I thought we were talking about Hinata."

"We were. When it came to her fight, from the beginning she was worried about how we were. She admitted it afterwards. The lightning country-nin picked up on the fact that she was worried about us. Do you remember when Neji bullied her in the preliminaries when you were there?"

"Yeah, she looked ready to run. I told her that she had to fight." Naruto smiled slightly "And she gave it everything."

"This time there was no-one to cheer her, or reassure her. Worse, her father was watching her, which really did not help her nervousness." realisation slowly dawned on Naruto's face.

"She lost?"

"Yes, I'm told with very little of a fight, he used some sort of illusion to make her think that throughout the exam she had been a burden to us and that she couldn't win."

"Wait, so how did she become a Chuunin in the end then?" Naruto asked.

"She proved she wasn't a burden." Naruto raised his eyebrows.

"How?"

"A few months later we were all on a mission to take care of an A-classed ninja and his accomplices. Something went wrong and he outsmarted all of us, Kurenai included. Before we knew it we were all defeated. Except Hinata." Shino paused.

"This time she felt she must have felt could do something to help us, she was the only one left to protect us." Naruto looked shocked.

"She defeated all of them?" he asked. Shino nodded.

"When we woke up, there were bodies everywhere. We didn't find a scratch on them, she had killed each and every one of them with a Jyuuken strike to the heart, including the A-classed criminal himself." Naruto's eyes widened.

"They underestimated her. Anyway, when we got back Tsunade-sama awarded her the effective rank of Chuunin as recognition for completing the mission and saving three team mates."

"_She was __that__ powerful?"_ Naruto asked himself incredulously.

"Everyone is fooled by her innocent, caring nature. She could well have the ability to surpass Neji in terms of exhibition of the Byakugan, she only needs encouragement, and the will to fight."

"So why does she want to retake the Chuunin exam?"

"_From what he's said she's powerful enough not to bother."_

"To prove herself to her father and the entire village."

"Her father, yes. But why the village?" though Naruto was beginning to get suspicions.

"After the incident, word spread and there were dark rumours about how she had achieved it. She wanted to take the exam earlier, it's still technically allowed since she hasn't passed but she couldn't find any willing team mates. The rumours tainted her image." he watched as Naruto burst out of his seat, attracting the attention of the entire café.

"That's so unfair!" Naruto shouted.

"She protected some of her important people, and gets her reputation ruined as a reward!"

"_She's just like me"_ Naruto thought.

"_They don't understand our power and so they fear us…"_ he slumped back down, the fire still in his eyes.

"I understand Shino. This is very important to Hinata and I will make sure that she can prove herself. I will give her the support she needs. Thank you for letting me know." he stood up.

"I'm gonna go find her, see how things are going. Bye." he ran off.

Shino felt satisfied though Naruto didn't have a clue where he was going. _"I was worried that he might see it the wrong way but he understands. Hinata needs this…"_

XXXXXXXXXX

Y'know I was talking last time about how I was fleshing out each thought I had. This is a perfect example. You might have more of an idea of what to expect now from any battles involving Kiba. I always imagined Ino using psychological/illusion techniques to fight, it suits her. Notice I'm trying not to make Hinata god-like, with Jyuuken you can pretty much lay anyone low. They underestimated her and she got maaaaaad. Will she do it again? But Naruto understands Hinata better now. Hope you liked the surgery bit as well, I'm proud of it. Let me know what you're thinkin'

Later.


	5. Anger and Resolve

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime. I'm currently re-watching the Shippuuden episodes. Gaara is so damn cool, I wanna write him in at some point but he's gonna have to wait ages cos I just don't see him appearing again soon, at least not feasibly.

I should add that I've changed the time of the meeting with Sasori's contact to around the same time as the Chuunin exam is happening. This was so everything would have time to pan out as I planned. I think the story will run more smoothly that way as well.

Chapter 5: Anger and Resolve

Though the sand village didn't really know it, they had one of Konoha's brightest young minds to help them work out escort plans for the Genin. However Shikamaru had not quite been tasked with the workload he had been expecting when he was given the mission by Tsunade-sama. To him though, as he was lazy, this wasn't much of a problem. His lack of work also meant that he could focus on another problem _"Right"_ he thought _"If she thinks she can play with me, I'll give her a nasty shock"_ he realised that he was turning this into a game _"But I'm good at games"_ he smiled _"And if I win this one…"_

XXXXXXXXXX

Quiet moments were hard to come by when you had the job of Hokage. Right now, Tsunade was enjoying one such moment while Shizune was out. Naruto seemed to be preoccupied enough with the Chuunin exam, the Akatsuki activity level had not increased and missions were proceeding nicely. She was having a nap.

Footsteps echoed from the corridor, getting closer.

"Tsunade-sama" a voice called.

"Tsunade-sama!" it was getting louder. The door burst open, smashing against the wall; finally rousing the blonde Hokage from her sleep

"Tsunade-sama!"

It was Shizune _"Pretty much the bane of my life. That and debt"_ Tsunade tried to look as awake as possible but unfortunately the notes on her table had left ink on her face. If she had been awake then she had definitely been getting a little too intimate with the table. Worryingly, Shizune didn't seem to notice.

"Hmm?" Tsunade managed

"Hyuuga Neji has been admitted to the hospital with a serious chest injury" this got her attention "He has been stabilised but is still in a critical condition, the medical staff are worried about damage to his lungs. He has also lost a lot of blood and has some damage to his ribs"

"How did this happen?" she demanded, now in full authority mode even though she didn't look it

"Apparently it was a training accident involving Tenten" she hesitated "We don't have all the details but it seems she hit him hard with a kunai in a fairly vital spot" Tsunade frowned

"Can the team at the hospital cover it?"

"They say they can do enough to make sure he is off the critical list, but they ask if you could treat his lungs. The damage they have sustained is not in itself life-threatening but it seriously impairs his breathing and if surgery goes wrong it could prevent him from even walking properly, let alone continuing as a ninja"

"Inform me when he has recovered enough; I will take a look then"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama" she made as if to leave

"Wait!" Shizune turned "Make sure that Tenten receives counselling, this sort of thing can have terrible psychological effects on people in the long and short term. She is exempt from missions, obviously as is Neji, until further notice"

"Of course Tsunade-sama" Shizune left the room. Tsunade stood up with a purposeful look on her face

"Looks like I'm back to work…"

XXXXXXXXXX

It was a new day and the sun was rising as Kakashi, Kiba and Sakura all continued their journey to the Grass Country. They would be leaving the Fire Country in the next few days and they had been travelling with minimum rest since the day before to make sure that they would have some time to prepare when they reached their destination. Kakashi could see that both Sakura and Kiba were exhibiting the first signs of tiredness _"We should rest here for the moment"_ he thought _"Besides, I need to know something…"_ he held up a hand and jumped down onto the forest floor

"We are stopping here for a few hours" he called as Kiba, Akamaru and Sakura all joined him, Sakura a calculated distance from the other two.

"I'll take first watch then?" Kiba asked but Kakashi shook his head

"Not yet. First I want to know what your techniques are"

Kiba looked worried "Huh? Why?" _"I wanna keep 'em secret for when I have a rematch with Naruto"_ he thought.

Sakura stepped in "We need to know what you can do now so that if we get into trouble we know what to expect from you" Kiba only cocked his head.

Kakashi put his hand on Sakura's shoulder, to try and calm her down. So far all Kiba had talked about was fighting 'Orochimaru's bastards' and Sakura had been constantly reminding him that they had a mission. Tensions had been rising since they left.

She shook his hand off "I'll fight you then, that should give us a good enough idea".

Kiba stepped back, surprised. Suddenly a smirk spread on his face. He folded his arms "Are you sure? It could get messy".

Sakura grinned back "If you think I haven't improved then come on! We might see something of your 'new techniques' before you hit the floor" Kakashi sighed _"This __could__ get messy"_

"I don't think this is such a good idea" he said as Sakura started pulling on her black gloves slowly and deliberately in front of Kiba _"She's __really__ trying to provoke them"_ Kakashi realised. There was a deep bark from Akamaru as he too realised she was goading them. She ignored them both, creating a snapping sound as she pulled the second glove tight

"You ready Akamaru?" Kiba asked softly. He got a deep rumble from his friends' throat as a response. Kiba smiled _"Yeah…Stupid bitch"_

Kakashi stepped back to a safe distance realising this was happening whether he liked it or not, it would also reveal Kiba's strength "We are not aiming to kill, we have a mission after all" he looked between the two

"Yeah, to find information about that Sasuke" he growled, thinking only Sakura could hear him

"That Sasuke?" Sakura hissed, her voice had an audible edge to it _"Oh, shit!"_ Kakashi realised this was escalating fast.

"Yeah! That Sasuke!" Kiba roared as he activated his technique. Kakashi could see that his beast technique lengthened his nails and canines as well as dramatically increasing his speed and awareness. The chakra activity around his nose however, was astonishing.

Sakura narrowed her eyes _"His eyes are glazing"_ she realised. But she had no more time to think.

Kiba had thrown himself into a spin "Tsuuga!" Sakura had only a split second to dodge the attack though she did manage it. _"He's fast!"_ She searched for Akamaru, drawing out shuriken as she did so _"There!" _she saw him a little way away from Kiba_ "I'll have to wait until I can get a damn hit"_

Kiba had stopped his spin and was now facing Sakura again. She noticed again that his eyes looked odd, like he wasn't entirely focused on her.

He smiled "Go Akamaru!" Sakura took a step back _"Shit, took my eyes off him for a second!"_ it was now Akamaru's turn to attack but Tsunade's student coped well _"Ha, training wasn't for nothing ya stupid dog!"_ she turned in mid-air to watch the effects of the attack. Her eyes widened, he had blasted through the tree she had been standing on so hard that he had split the tree in half and caused the remaining wood around the hole to catch fire! Her eyes narrowed again _"I can __never__ allow that to hit me"_ she looked down and realised Akamaru was stopping _"An opening!"_

Kakashi watched as Sakura released the shuriken from between her fingers _"They're on target, what now?"_ he thought. Akamaru had begun moving _"It won't be fast enough"_ the shuriken were going to graze the dog in the side, not enough to kill, but enough to remove him from the battle _"Well done Sakura, that amount of damage is fixable"_ Kakashi thought. The shuriken struck.

"Ha-" the laugh died in Sakura's throat. The shuriken hadn't done a damn thing! In fact, the shuriken had deflected right off his fur!

"Y'know!" Kiba laughed "I wouldn't advise using normal punches on him either!"

Kakashi looked at Akamaru's fur more closely. _"What happened there?"_

Sakura looked around, now they were either side of her. From what she had seen, Kiba was faster, she had barely dodged his attack but Akamaru was definitely more powerful. If she was them her next tactic would be…

"_Kiba will corner her and Akamaru will strike"_ Kakashi realised, with Akamaru's power most enemies would be immediately taken out. He was still wondering about that fur. He took a look at the tree that had been attacked. Something glinted in the wood… Kakashi gasped

Sakura launched herself at Kiba "I don't have normal punches, idiot!" Kiba stepped back and Sakura took a swipe.

…And missed, she jabbed again but this time Kiba had dodged right. _"Damn it!" _she screamed inwardly and started a barrage of punches towards his face; each and every one being dodged _"Argh! He's nearly as good as Kakashi at this!"_

Kiba smiled as he dodged "You smell nice" he said as she punched through a tree. He leapt back. "What did Sasuke think, before he screwed us all over?"

"You bastard!" she screamed. In an instant she built up a lethal amount of chakra into her right fist before throwing herself at him yet again. Kiba moved to the left, but this time her attack managed a graze on his shoulder. Kiba felt a massive impact on his arm then get thrown back to hit a tree behind him

"You know NOTHING about Sasuke-kun!" she screamed

Kakashi stepped forward, in her rage she had forgotten about Akamaru "Sakura, watch out!" he called

She turned to see Akamaru spinning towards her. She leapt into the air, dodging the attack by centimetres. Or so she thought.

Suddenly Sakura felt tiny needles embed themselves in her lower legs and feet. She screamed in pain, falling to the forest floor.

"Enough!" Kakashi called out.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto woke up slowly. He rubbed his eyes with his fists and squinted through the window. _"So early…What on earth was I __doing__ last night?"_ he thought. The memory hit him like a brick. _"The meeting with Shino!"_ his thoughts immediately turned to Hinata, he hadn't been able to find her before nightfall in the end. He stared off into space.

But now he had time to think about it, what should he say? _"Some people think you're dangerous but I want to help? Completely tactless, even for me. We're the same; some people think I'm dangerous? That'd move onto the Kyuubi an then she'd run" _he shivered, he couldn't stand the thought of Hinata running from him. It wasn't just about the Chuunin exam, or even the fact that she was a precious friend to him. _"If I inflicted fear into those innocent eyes…" _he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

He focused _"No, I can only say I will support her, for whatever reason she's taking the exam. That's what she needs, support"._ He smiled, now that he had made a decision he felt much better. He crawled out of bed.

"I've got to get ready" he told the empty room.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was ten minutes later and now that the sun was fully up, light was finally penetrating the leaves and illuminating the forest. Only the call of birds and the sounds of small animals in the undergrowth broke the almost cloying silence.

Up against a tree Sakura was removing the needles and healing herself, grimacing each time a needle came out of her skin. She paid no attention to any of the other members of her group as she removed each one. She was only keeping the boiling rage inside her from exploding by very slowly and carefully pulling out the needles and paying full attention to said task.

Twenty or thirty meters away Kiba was rubbing ointment into the bruise on his shoulder and his back. He too was paying no attention to either of the other two and was deliberately facing away from Sakura. Akamaru on the other hand was facing Sakura, his nose to the floor and teeth bared. Kiba was also avoiding his own thoughts, in his case by mentally thanking Hinata for giving him the healing mixture. He sure as hell wasn't asking her for help.

Kakashi looked between the two of them _"If I don't sort this out now this mission is __really__ going to be over. I can't let that happen"._ He looked between the two again before walking over to Kiba.

Akamaru began growling at Kakashi's approach, but was silent as Kiba put a hand on his friends' head.

Kakashi knelt down "Hey".

Kiba didn't look up "What do you want?" he snapped. His other hand was still stroking Akamaru's head.

Kakashi sighed "Why did you accept this mission so readily?"

Kiba still wouldn't make eye contact "I dunno, cos I was ordered to?"

Kakashi sat down in front of Kiba "Y'know, I heard about what happened when you all went after Sasuke"

This still got no reaction from the young ninja "So what?"

Kakashi laughed slightly "I had a conversation a bit like this with Sasuke the last time I saw him" he saw Kiba tense "He wanted revenge too" he paused to let the words sink in before continuing "I'll tell you the same thing I said to him. I've seen a lot of people like you, and the fate of those who seek revenge is grim. It's tragic. You'll end up suffering and hurting yourself even more" he nodded towards Akamaru "Him too" Kiba scowled but Kakashi continued "Even if you do succeed in getting revenge, all that remains is emptiness"

Kiba finally looked into his eyes "Shut up! What do you know?!" _"I wasn't strong enough to protect Akamaru when Sasuke left, but if I get revenge now…"_

Kakashi only smiled "He said that too" his voice got harder "Look, do you think that killing a few of Orochimaru's minions or insulting Sasuke will erase that event from the past?" Kakshi looked towards Sakura "She was right, you don't know anything about him, but that doesn't matter. You both survived, and have become stronger" he stood up "I'm going to talk to her, and when I get back you're going to apologise-"

"What!" Kiba hissed.

"-and she will too" he smiled "We don't need all this tension in the air" he paused "Always bad teamwork…" he muttered.

Kiba looked puzzled "Huh?"

"Don't worry. From what I've seen, you'll be useful. Maybe you'll tell us your secrets next time instead of attacking us with them. Let's just patch this up" Kiba looked surprised but Kakashi was already walking over to Sakura.

"_Just one last one and I'm done…There!"_ she noticed Kakashi walking towards her.

He held a hand up "Yo"

Sakura gave him a full-blown death-glare "He's an idiot, he's got no right…"

Kakshi nodded "True, but you could have liquidised him if you had got a proper hit with that attack" he sighed "Sakura, you've got to learn more self-control. Sasuke left the village; do you think everyone would understand? If he came back now, do you think everyone would welcome him with open arms?"

Sakura shook her head slowly "No, but-"

"I know what he said was wrong, but they all put their lives on the line for him and he left. You, Naruto and I feel differently because we understand but we have to accept what others may think about him" Kakashi gestured towards Kiba. Sakura noticed he was still stroking Akamaru absent-mindedly. Kakashi continued "If you want to change what he thinks, talk to him, don't fight him" he stood up "Now, you're going to apologise to him-" this time Kakashi managed to get in before he was interrupted "-and he will apologise to you" he smiled "Then we will get this mission done and we will be one step closer to rescuing Sasuke" he helped her up and led her over to Kiba. Kiba stood up and stepped forward.

Kakashi stepped back and there was a moment of tense silence, interrupted only by the sound of the wind.

"I'm sorry-"

"I'm sorry-"

They both smiled slightly, and the tension dissipated into an awkward silence.

Kiba spoke up first "I shouldn't have said what I did, it was wrong"

Sakura gave him another wan smile "I shouldn't have let it get to me so badly, throwing that attack was stupid"

Kiba laughed, rubbing his shoulder "Heh, I'm alive aren't I?" he looked down at her legs "Are you ok? Most people can't move after that attack cos of the pain"

She showed him where she had healed and smiled, properly this time "Don't worry about it; he was only trying to protect you" she stepped forward "Are you sure your shoulder is ok?"

Kiba held a hand up "I've got it covered". There was another awkward pause. Kakashi chose that moment to intervene.

"Right, well now we've got all that over with we should probably be moving again"

Sakura turned "I thought we were resting"

"I didn't think we were fighting" he countered evenly "We will rest tonight; think of it as your reward for arguing. Let's go!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Unlike Naruto, Hinata had woken up immediately several hours before sunrise to fulfil her usual duties around the Hyuuga mansion. Far from being bored with the same tasks every day she found it gave her time to think over what she would do for the rest of the day. While making breakfast for her father and sister she would plan training, or organise herself for a mission. However today she was thinking about preparation for the Chuunin exam with Naruto-kun.

"_I still can't believe I'm taking it with him!"_ She remembered waking up earlier and for a split second thinking it might all be a dream. Hinata put such thoughts out of her mind and finished off the last of the meal preparation, leaving the food on the table for her father.

"_The next problem"_ she thought _"Is convincing father that this is a good idea"_. Still, she had to meet Naruto-kun first and discuss the person she had found as a candidate for taking the exam with them. "_Will he think it's a good idea? What if he's found lots of different people to try out?"_ she had a horrible thought _"What if he doesn't need me anymore?"_ Hinata stopped herself _"Naruto-kun would never do that. No, I need to talk to him. He said we were meeting and he doesn't lie"_ she smiled _"He doesn't take back his words…"_ she stopped. But where were they meeting, what with her being unable to speak properly and him rushing off they hadn't actually agreed on a place… Only one thing for it then…

"Byakugan" she murmured softly, the veins around her lavender coloured eyes becoming infinitely more pronounced. She checked Ichiraku's first, which wasn't very far but there was no sign of him. Next was the Hokage residence and the stone faces, but again she couldn't see him around. She blushed as she checked his flat but again there was no sign of him. Hinata was about to give up when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She deactivated her technique. It was Hanabi.

"Nee-san, there's someone here to see you" she gave a smile. Fortunately their father's preference for Hanabi had created no tension between the two sisters. Hinata was not the type for jealousy and Hanabi had always looked up to her sister. Hinata had been the only maternal presence in the household and Hanabi respected her older sibling for managing to bear with the crushing disappointment their father had dumped on her for all those years. She also knew that Hinata was stronger than she appeared. She just wished she would show her father that strength. Though the strained father-daughter relationship had improved over time to the point where they were now amiable, Hiashi obviously still didn't expect all that much from his older daughter. If proof of that was needed Hiashi still trained with only Neji and Hanabi and had often asked Neji to 'look out for' Hinata while she was right in front of him. _"But she can prove him wrong, I hope"_ Hanabi thought.

As Hanabi led her sister outside the Hyuuga compound the reason for Hanabi's smile became clear:

"Hey Hinata, I remembered that we didn't actually agree where to meet so I figured that I'd wait here". Naruto smiled "So, are we going?" he pushed himself off of the wall he had been leaning on.

Hinata nodded but looked worried "Er… How long h-have you been waiting Naruto-kun?" Hanabi sighed inwardly; she had been around during enough of Hinata's conversations with Neji, Kiba and Shino to know about Naruto.

Naruto looked surprised "Oh, not too long" the gate guard looked up, surprised _"He's been here a while hasn't he?" _Hanabi thought.

Naruto scratched the back of his head "I didn't want to intrude" he turned, looking slightly embarrassed "Anyway let's go".

"O-Okay" she stepped alongside Naruto.

"Nee-chan, I have training with father so I'll see you later. Okay?"

Hinata smiled "Hai. Arigato." They both started to walk off.

Hanabi allowed herself to sigh _"When will you tell him nee-chan?"_

XXXXXXXXXX

The reason I think Kiba would hate Sasuke is that Akamaru was so badly hurt in his fight with Sakon and Ukon and he didn't gain anything from it. Neji and Chouji both beat their opponents, but Kiba is compensating. The next chapter is going to be Naruto and Hinata heavy by the way. But who will they get on their team? Anyway, stuff to do.

Later.


	6. Pain and Understanding

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime. Less than a week until the next Shippuuden episode, I can't believe how long we've had to wait… By the way I should thank everyone who has reviewed. You've all been so kind; I especially like the comments on my realism, that's what I'm aiming for. By the way I was planning on getting this out a 4am this morning so you could all read it but for some reason the server was being retarded. Evidently it's allowed to screw up then cos only idiots like me post updates at these kind of stupid times…

Chapter 6: Pain and Understanding

The day had started perfectly. After waking early and meeting Naruto outside the compound, Hinata had noticed that the day was going to be flawless. Warm, but not too hot with not a cloud in the sky. She looked across at Naruto as she walked and then smiled as she felt the breeze through her hair. Now it was well past her shoulders, and was so different from how she used to have it.

"_But I like it like this."_ she thought. She put a hand up to brush her hair out of her face.

Unbeknownst to her Naruto found himself thinking the exact same thing as he stared at the girl beside him. He quickly looked away before she noticed, but had to turn back as she spoke.

"Um… So, N-Naruto-kun where are w-we going?" she looked up at him. Naruto seemed to give it a little thought.

"Well, if we're going to work together during the exam then we need to know how each of us have improved since we last saw each other." he pointed down a street.

"There's a training area this way, how about we go there and work out what's new?" Hinata nodded her assent and began playing with her hair.

"I-I'm sure you have improved a lot s-since you left Naruto-kun" she managed, earning herself a winning smile.

"I sure have, I've got a load of cool new moves. I've already used one of them to defeat a really strong enemy" he turned to her.

"I'm sure you've really improved since I've been gone too, huh?" Hinata blushed.

"I-I have done my best…"

"…_to keep up with you…"_ she noticed she was twisting a lock of her hair right around her finger again and stopped herself.

"Um… But w-what happened on your mission Naruto-kun? I heard the Kazekage was k-kidnapped." She looked surprised as Naruto frowned.

"Yeah…" and as they walked he launched into an explanation of his most recent mission.

XXXXXXXXXX

They had reached the training ground by the time Naruto finished recounting how they had all rescued Gaara from the Akatsuki. As he had done with Shikamaru and Chouji, Naruto had left out the parts of the story that had anything to do with the Kyuubi. If it got out…

He breathed a sigh, trying to relieve the stress. Though he hadn't talked about the Kyuubi he felt better for talking to Hinata _"There's something about the way she listens, she doesn't have to ask questions. She just understands…"_

However there was something that Hinata didn't understand _"Why does Naruto-kun have such an attachment to Gaara? I know he influences everyone…" _she smiled to herself at this thought.

"_But this seems to go deeper than that… Is there something Naruto-kun is not telling me?"_

She decided to speak up "Uh… N-Naruto-kun? How d-did you become such g-good friends with Gaara?"

At that moment Naruto toyed with telling her the whole truth. Lying to her was really difficult.

"_No, I can't."_ he decided, as his thoughts went back to the image of a fearful Hinata.

"_I can't do that to her. I don't think I could deal with that either." _he decided to tell her part of the truth, but not all of it. He sighed again and looked into her eyes, causing her to blush heavily.

"Do you remember when the Sand and Sound villages invaded Konoha?" Hinata nodded, that had been a terrible time. She had been recovering from the wound she sustained when she had fought Neji and when everyone else was out protecting the village she had felt completely powerless.

"Well the mission I got was to go after Gaara with Sasuke and Sakura."

Hinata's eyes widened "B-But he had a d-demon inside him! Y-You said he was r-really powerful."

"_Naruto-kun is so brave."_ She thought to herself. Naruto paused for a second.

"_What does she mean by that?"_ he thought. But he nodded to her.

"We needed to stop him, but he took out Sasuke and Sakura" he paused, the memory of Sasuke was still painful.

"Naruto-kun? How did you stop him?" Hinata asked, her arms up against her chest. Naruto swallowed.

"Gaara… I had to save him…" he murmured.

"He told me… He was always alone…" he managed in barely a whisper.

"Just like I was…" Hinata put her hand to her mouth.

"_Yes… Naruto-kun was alone for so long…"_ she thought, as Naruto continued slowly.

"But eventually people freed me from that loneliness. Iruka-sensei, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, the others…" he looked up to Hinata.

"…and you." he gave a smile, but only a weak one.

Hinata felt like she couldn't breathe. The usually confident, bright boy she knew was so dejected.

"_I was such a coward, I watched you and did nothing…"_ Hinata admonished herself. But Naruto kept talking.

"You all freed me, my precious friends, but he still had no-one… I had to release him from that loneliness too" he paused.

"That's how I beat him. I couldn't lose, for everyone's sake. Including his…" he looked back down at the ground.

"And that's why when I thought he was dead, and gone for good I…" he stopped again, his face darkening.

For Hinata it was painful watching him. She had to show her support in some way for the boy she loved. Reaching out, and no longer thinking about embarrassment, she took hold of his hand and looked carefully into his eyes.

"_He's such a good person…"_ was all she was thinking as she squeezed his hand comfortingly.

XXXXXXXXXX

The morning light was filtering through the curtains and onto the bed. The warmth of the sunlight slowly heated the girls' arm and crept along her face until it reached her eyes. She stirred in her hospital bed.

"_Urrgh, where am I?" _Tenten thought. Everything seemed like a dream and there was a horrible taste in her mouth, though she couldn't quite place what it was. She opened her eyes.

"AHHHHH! I'M BLINDED!!!" her hands went straight to her eyes and she sat up quickly. It was at this point she realised she was wearing only a hospital gown and underwear. Even her hair wasn't in its usual buns and flowed down her back in a hazel shower as she got up.

"_What in the hell am I doing in a hospital? And why was I drugged?"_ she thought to herself as a blonde nurse ran into the room looking worried.

"_Why is that so familiar?"_ her mind, which had been blocking her memories of the events that had taken place on the training ground, suddenly released them all.

"_Neji. The training ground. The accident. The blood. The Kunai. Ino and Chouji. Neji…"_ tears started to fill her eyes until she fully noticed the nurse, who was now unsure what to do.

"What happened to Neji!?" she managed to blurt out.

"Tell me he's ok!"

The woman looked shocked, which Tenten took to be the worst news.

"Oh my god…" she murmured.

"_I really did kill him…"_ silent tears formed in her chocolate brown eyes again. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. Through her blurry vision she could see the medic was pointing to a bed behind a curtain. Tenten pushed herself off the bed, her hair falling to her waist as she staggered over to the bed expecting to see her team mates' body limp and lifeless behind the curtain. She hesitated.

"_I can't see him…"_ she thought.

"_Not when it was __me__ that did it to him…"_

She felt the nurse's presence by her.

"Go" she said, nodding her head. Suddenly, though it had been there the whole time, Tenten heard the familiar beep-beep sound of a heart monitor. She pulled the curtain across roughly as her heart leapt.

It was Neji.

Tenten felt the relief course through her like some sort of fire in her blood.

"_He's alive…"_ her legs buckled from underneath her.

"Hey!" the girl caught her.

"Careful!" Tenten smiled up at her weakly.

"Sorry. Could you pass me that chair please?" she asked in a small voice, nodding towards the seat next to Neji's bed. She made it over half walking, half being carried.

"Thank you." her body went visibly limper.

"How is he?" she managed.

The nurse picked up the chart at the foot of the bed and flicked through the papers. She frowned.

Meanwhile Tenten was looking at Neji. Both his arms were above the bed sheets and had IV tubes running into them. She looked further up, the top of his chest past the sheets was bare and Tenten could see the top of a large dressing covered in bandages. She looked at his face.

"_He looks so pale…"_ she thought. His forehead also looked slightly moist and he had an oxygen mask over his face. Nothing was covering his caged bird seal either.

"_He hates that thing so much."_ The brown haired girl looked around exasperatedly for something to cover it with but there was nothing on hand. Determined to do something for him she took up the hem of her gown and tore a long strip off with all of her strength. The Nurse looked up.

"Hey! Those don't grow on trees…" but Tenten ignored her, placing the white strip around his head covering the seal up in a kind of bandana arrangement. She tightened the knot at the back.

"There. It looks good on you y'know…" her eyes welled up again; it was so unnatural to see him so vulnerable like this. She wiped her eyes.

"D'you like my hair? I never really wear it like this outside, this is probably the first time in years" she ran it through her fingers absent-mindedly.

"I bet you never thought it was this long, huh?" she looked down at herself.

"Actually, I'm not wearing much at all, apart from this gown I just ripped. This is pretty embarrassing" she gave a nervous laugh, trying to fight off the tears. She felt a hand on her back. It was the nurse.

"You wanted to know how he is?" Tenten nodded. The woman stepped forward.

"The three IV's here, here and here." she pointed to his right arm.

"Are supplying blood, here." pointed to his right arm on the inside of his elbow.

"And nutrition here." she pointed to the back of his wrist.

"This one here is for administering sedative, we will let him wake up slowly later but for now he needs rest."

Tenten pointed to his left arm "What about these two?"

"This one is for antibiotics fighting a small infection that developed inside the wound on his chest, it was quite deep." she saw Tenten stiffen noticeably and put her hand out again.

"This one…" She pointed further up.

"…is for the painkillers."

"What does he need that for?" Tenten asked, worry etched into her voice. The nurse looked concerned too.

"His chest wound, as I said, was very deep. But the fact that a rib broke is more painful than that, and even though that has been fixed back into place it will hurt for a while. The real reason is because of the damage to his lungs though." Tenten looked over to the mask.

"Is that what this is for?" the blonde nodded.

"Yes, at the moment it is very difficult for him to breathe alone. It's also impossible for him to even walk, even with the machine; he just can't get the oxygen required to his muscles" she noticed that Tenten looked shocked.

"_I've taken it all away from him."_ she thought.

"_His career, his effort, his genius and his body!"_ she felt so angry with herself.

"_Why? Why did I do this to him?"_ her thoughts were interrupted by the nurse yet again.

"Don't worry, Tsunade-sama will be taking a look at him." she smiled.

"Everything will be alright." she took Tenten's hand leading her back to her bed.

"And you need rest too, you are mentally and physically exhausted."

The last thing she heard before she fell unconscious again was the nurse telling her she needed a new gown.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was a minute later at the training ground. Though she hadn't wanted to let go of his hand, Naruto had moved his away. To her relief it was only to thank her for listening and understanding. She could still feel the residual warmth from his hand.

"Arigato Hinata…" he smiled, warmly rather than brightly. Evidently a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Hinata silently cursed herself for her timidity.

"_Now would be a perfect time to tell him how I feel…"_

"…you're a really good friend."

The word seemed to echo in her head.

"_Friend…"_ after what seemed like an age to her, she managed a smile.

"That's why I need to do this exam, to be able to protect you and everyone else precious in this village!" he continued, gaining more enthusiasm by the second. Hinata felt her heart shift again.

"_But he considers me precious?"_

"Me?" Hinata managed.

"Yeah, now we were meant to be showing each other what's new, right?" he jumped back.

"Let's get to it!"

Somehow, it seemed he was back to normal.

"_I wonder if he's always putting up a mask?"_ She thought to herself. If Naruto was, he was more like her than she thought. With an inward smile she realised she was closer to him now than she had ever been before. She still admired his confidence and strength but…

"_It's so comforting to know we're similar in some ways. Thank you for showing me this side of you Naruto-kun, it must have been really hard…"_

"Anyway" Naruto continued. Hinata looked up.

"You want to do this too, right?" she felt her breath catch, remembering instantly why they were here.

"_Yes, I __do__ want this…"_ she agreed inwardly, moving herself into a fighting stance.

Meanwhile Naruto's mind was in overdrive. Again, it looked like his tongue had overtaken his mind.

"_Wow… I've never opened up to anyone like that before. True, I didn't tell her everything but she understands the loneliness that both me and Gaara went through…"_ he thought about his conversation with Shino once again.

"_And now __she's__ the target of a similar sort of abuse…" _he felt anger rising.

"_I __have__ to help her."_

Hinata interrupted his thoughts.

"Er… N-Naruto-kun?" Naruto seemed to snap out of it.

"Sorry, Hinata" he smiled again.

"How about I show you my new moves first? I've told you about most of my other techniques but there's one that needs to be witnessed…"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Just so you know, this is a short meeting to evaluate the events of yesterday and the part you played" Tsunade gave a shark-like smile.

Ino gulped. She had been summoned to the Hokages' office that morning, to come alone about yesterday's events. Due to the exhaustion she had gone through, Chouji had carried her home, much to her later embarrassment when her parents informed her the next morning. But because of that she didn't even know whether Neji had survived. Even though she felt confident in herself, if it was found out she had done something wrong…

"_Could I live with myself if he died because I made a mistake?" _she thought.

"_Never mind the issues over losing my medical ninja status…"_ whatever the summons was for, Ino was pretty much crapping herself. Tsunade was a scary person, possibly more so when she was smiling.

"Yamanaka Ino!" Tsunade called.

"Hai!" Ino desperately tried to stand to fuller attention than she was at already. Tsunade gave a stare.

"Do you have a written report of your part in the events yesterday?"

"Huh?" she looked at the papers in her hand.

"Oh… Yes, here" she handed them over. Tsunade's voice softened as she took them.

"Thank you. Would you like to know the complete story of what happened yesterday?" Ino looked surprised; it seemed Tsunade had calmed down. She nodded.

"Well, we don't have the start yet, but I suspect you're more interested in what happened at the point, oh… around when the emergency signal went off?" Ino nodded dumbly again.

"The medical team that was placed at the nearest part of the wall to your incident moved immediately." Tsunade smiled.

"My idea of putting medical teams at the wall paid off." she raised an eyebrow.

"But I'm guessing you ordered the signal?" Ino nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes, there was equipment I needed." Tsunade gave another smile.

"That quick decision definitely saved his life, according to my hospital medics. Had they not arrived, or arrived later, restoring his breathing would have been almost impossible" she looked down at the notes. Ino was finding it hard to stand still.

"_I saved him? He's alive!"_ inside, it was a party for all, but outside she attempted to keep as much composure as possible. She allowed herself a clenched fist.

"It says here that you removed the bone fragments before treating him for the blood in his lungs." Ino nodded again, and Tsunade continued.

"You realise moving the blood out first could have allowed the fragments to move towards the heart?" she slammed her hand down on the table, frightening the life out of the young medical kunoichi. Tsunade had realised long ago that she took an almost obscene pleasure in frightening the younger ninja.

"You made the right decision! All the decisions you made were correct and Neji survived. You showed incredible skill and level-headedness to pull off the entire thing." Ino saw Shizune beaming and smiled back weakly, still surprised. Tsunade coughed and Ino looked back at the Hokage.

"Therefore I am moving you to the serious accident and emergency ward of the hospital. You have shown the skill to be able to move to the next level and serve the village in a more challenging environment. You will be assigned a station until the end of the Chuunin exams. I hope the experience you gain will aid in your missions." the older blonde smiled at the younger.

"Congratulations."

XXXXXXXXXX

It had taken until the afternoon but he had gotten it done.

"So now you've seen most of my techniques." Naruto grinned scratching the back of his head.

Hinata took a few seconds to react, she was still blown away by the Oodama Rasengan's power.

"_It was no wonder that Naruto-kun asked me to stand back."_ she thought looking over to him.

"T-That was amazing N-Naruto-kun." she smiled as Narutos' face lit up at the praise.

He walked over to her.

"Well, that's me done. Now you need to show me what you got." he pulled her up from where she was sitting. As their hands touched again both their minds flashed back to earlier.

Hinata managed to break the moment of tension first.

"Err…Thank you Naruto-kun." She managed.

Naruto laughed nervously.

"Don't worry about it, now let's see what you can do" he gave her a smile before sitting down where Hinata had just been. Though he didn't realise it, he held the hand that had just held Hinatas'.

The indigo haired girl stepped away from Naruto, into the clearing and towards the targets arrayed on the poles. They had already taken some brutal punishment from Narutos' attacks.

"_I need to show him I won't be a burden."_ her thoughts went back to the last exam she had taken.

"_Unlike then."_ she thought sadly.

She turned to Naruto.

"Y-You've already seen my S-Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō?" she asked. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, it was awesome!" he remembered.

"_That was the first time that I realised just how powerful Hinata really is."_ he looked over to her as she moved. She held her arms out in front of herself, contrary to her customary manner.

"W-Well" she stuttered.

"I-I've increased the r-range a bit…"

Narutos smiled in recollection as her arms began moving, creating line after line of bright chakra all around her. As she began to move faster he found his eyes were struggling to keep up, he could see dust being kicked up where she was sending lines of chakra. He tried to gauge how far the lines were reaching and gasped.

"_A bit!? She's managed to more than double the range of the attack!"_ he sat up, trying to follow her movements but by this time her arms were a blur. She was at full speed.

"Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō!" Hinata called out. The jutsu had created a shimmering barrier all around her that illuminated her concentrated face. Her long hair was loose and flowing out behind her, lifted by an ephemeral wind. Naruto sat there entranced as she wound down the technique. She closed her eyes and breathed out slowly. It took her a second to hear a voice as if from far away.

"That was awesome Hinata, you're awesome!" she opened her eyes to see Naruto cheering from his seat. She allowed herself a small smile.

"Arigato Naruto-kun" she quietly replied. She walked to about two meters from the wooden targets.

"I-I can also score g-grooves at in targets s-such as these with single s-sweeps of that attack." she demonstrated and Narutos' eyes widened. She turned to him, hands in front of her body again.

"Wow! That's incredible! So you've really been working on that technique huh?"

Hinata blushed and smiled as Naruto enthused about the technique.

"_Naruto-kun really likes my techniques! But I have something else too…"_

Hinata began playing with her hair again "Um… N-Naruto-kun?" Naruto stopped.

"Oh, yeah?" he watched as she let go of her hair. Hinata pushed her hand into the weapons pouch on her belt.

"I-I have one more thing to s-show you…"

"Better than that?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"_She hasn't just got stronger; she could have improved more than me!"_ Hinata only smiled nervously as she drew her hand out.

"_What's she gonna take out of there?"_ Naruto found himself wondering. His curiosity turned to shock.

"A water balloon?" he tried to repress the urge to laugh but Hinata could hear it in his voice. Fortunately Naruto realised he had hurt her feelings and apologised.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to. Go ahead." he gave her an encouraging smile.

"Thank you Naruto-kun." Hinata straightened up.

"_This is __my__ move, I wont be ashamed of it."_ She looked across at Naruto.

"Er… Y-You might want to step b-back into the woods Naruto-kun." he was about to protest when he saw the look of concern in her eyes.

"_What is she going to __do__"_ he thought. Well, he could only watch now.

Hinata watched as he stepped back. She breathed out slowly, pumping chakra into her hands.

Across in the trees Naruto frowned.

"_That almost looks like… Nah…"_ he watched as the figure below continued to breathe slowly, locked in concentration.

"_So what is she doing?"_

Suddenly, to Naruto's surprise, the balloon burst. Even more shockingly the water was staying where it was, in her palm. Naruto yet again noticed that the glow of chakra was illuminating her features. He found himself staring.

"…_Wait…what am I doing? Snap out of it." _he told himself.

Hinata was now oblivious of Naruto's attention. It was all about concentration, and how much chakra she could pump into the water. She watched as the light emitting from the water reached almost white.

"_Right, any more than that and the water will start burning off."_ she slowly drew her hand back; the chakra inside the water was now keeping it a spherical shape.

The next few events were a blur. Naruto realised Hinata had thrown the ball high into the air and above the centre of the clearing with her right hand. He watched her spin on her heel, her indigo hair following her in a dark halo.

"_What the…"_ he managed to think, a split second before his vision went white.

"Chakra rain!" he heard Hinata shout. He looked at where the ball had been and gasped.

The water was dropping onto the ground, hard. But the destruction it was causing… He watched as first one target, followed by the other two targets, disappeared under the barrage of the chakra infused water. The ground around them was covered in pockmarks over a huge radius.

"_No wonder she asked me to step back…"_ he looked down checking for Hinata.

She was looking up at him, smiling.

XXXXXXXXXX

Well that's my longest chapter yet, I think. By the way, if you're enjoying it, spread the love and tell your friends.

Later.


	7. A Promise and a Meeting

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime. I thought I'd let you know, the author is in pain while he writes this. Don't worry I'm not gonna get all melodramatic I just want to give a piece of advice, when buying football boots make sure they don't rub, seriously…

Chapter 7: A Promise and a Meeting

Tsunade was aware of the fact that the three of them had rarely worked together; however, there was always an upside. In this case it was that the mission was actually fairly straightforward.

"Rock Lee. Akimichi Chouji. Aburame Shino" she smiled "You will be going to the border of the fire country and escorting the Earth ninja entering the Chuunin exam from there to Konoha" she indicated to Shizune who stepped forward.

"You will be meeting the three teams here" she indicated on the map and looked up "Though this mission is essentially an escort, travelling Genins have been subjected to a number of attacks before the Chuunin exam".

Shizune felt movement under the table and hesitated slightly before continuing "We are responsible for the Genins entering the exam as soon as they move into the Fire Country" she moved her hand surreptitiously under the table and grabbed Tsunade's wrist, smiling brightly as she did so. She continued in a similarly bright voice that all three ninja in front of the desk identified as unnatural "You will make sure that there is no interference from other ninja while these Genin travel to Konoha" her hand snaked down and grabbed the Sake bottle Tsunade had been trying to pour. She stepped back from the desk, bottle now behind her.

The Hokage pouted "Yes, well…" she gave Shizune a dark look "As has been explained this is a fairly easy mission. However, we need no slip ups. You may go" she indicated to Lee "Except you".

Lee pointed to himself as the other two left.

Tsunade nodded "Yes, you Lee" she sighed "I have some news about your team mates. Yesterday…"

XXXXXXXXXX

As Shino left the room his thoughts turned to Hinata _"I hope her meeting with Naruto has had some good results"_ he still remembered the years before, when Hinata had been unable to stay conscious when very close to Naruto. He doubted that she would be doing that again _"Unless something extreme happens, at least"_ but he knew that his lack of sense and her nervousness could lead to some potentially harmful misunderstandings _"As long as he didn't blurt out the details of our entire conversation he should be okay"_ Shino reasoned. He had seemed to have grown up, _"well… slightly…"_ he thought. Either way, he had done the best he could, now he had a mission to worry about.

XXXXXXXXXX

Though it was typical of Shino to leave the room without a word, Chouji's silence was due to his worry over Ino and Neji. He had heard that Ino had been summoned to the Hokage's office earlier that day but he hadn't been able to find her since, and now he had a mission. _"I hope she's all right…but I don't even know whether Neji survived"_ he stopped, realising Lee had been assigned the mission with him _"And Lee was kept behind… What does that mean?"_

To Chouji, though he knew there was little he could do about the situation, it still felt bad that he was doing nothing.

When he heard the door slam behind him and saw Lee fly past at breakneck speed he felt considerably worse. He sighed.

Shino turned "Do you know what that was about?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto jumped down from the tree, in front of the smiling Hinata who was now playing with her hair nervously.

He straightened up "That was brilliant, you totally destroyed those targets. How do you do that technique?"

Hinata blushed at Naruto's praise "I-I use these…" she held up another balloon "to infuse water w-with chakra" she smiled as he understood.

"Oh, so if there's no water nearby, you can still do it right?" he smiled "That's a really good idea" he cocked his head in thought "But how do you get so much chakra into the water?"

"O-Oh, because of byakugan and j-jyuuken I can see where to apply it" she put the balloon back in the pouch and Naruto noticed she was swaying slightly "I-it does have its l-limits though… If I use too much, the w-water burns off" she put a hand to her head.

Naruto stepped forward "Uh, Hinata…" she looked at him, her eyes a little unfocused.

She smiled weakly "I-I'm fine"

"I think you've used a little too much chakra" he put his arm around her as she staggered forwards. He lowered her to the ground gently and let her sit back against the tree.

This, along with the chakra depletion was too much for Hinata _"Naruto-kun is holding me…_" she managed to think before she fainted.

XXXXXXXXXX

Everything was black. There was a sharp pain in his chest and it was really hard to breathe. He could also feel a number of sharp implements in his arms.

"_I must be alive"_ Neji thought wryly through the pain _"Only life is this painful"_. As if from a long distance he heard the sound of a heart monitor. So he was in a hospital? Someone must have done something right then. _"What is the last thing I remember? I was distracted, and Tenten summoned another load of kunai from the others…I should have been paying more attention…"_ He tried to take a deep breath.

"Neji!" he suddenly felt two hands holding tightly onto his left hand, but that was secondary to the burning pain in his lungs. They felt as if they were on fire… He coughed into the mask.

Neji recognised Tenten's voice "Neji! Don't try to move, you might pull out your stitches". He opened his eyes, blinking a few times due to the bright light.

As his vision normalised he realised Tenten was sitting at his bedside wearing what looked like only a torn hospital gown, her long hair flowing over her shoulders and down her front and back in a dark waterfall. Despite himself, he blushed and turned his head away.

Unfortunately Tenten got the wrong impression _"He must be so angry…"_ she heard him try to say something through the mask.

Tenten hung her head "Neji I'm so sorry, I put you in the hospital" her voice cracked as she tried to hold back the tears again.

Neji looked back at her and again tried to say something _"Damn mask…"_ he thought as Tenten lifted it off his face gingerly. Neji tried again.

"I said it wasn't your fault. I was distracted…" he managed. Tenten felt shocked, he wasn't angry?

"What distracted you?" she asked, not quite believing him.

He saw her red-rimmed eyes. It had taken time, but over the years Neji's heart had slowly opened _"I won't tell her that she did, not here…"_ he looked down quickly and then away again. Related to that… he still didn't know where to look. He reverted to what he knew.

"That's not important" he tried to indicate to what she was wearing but found it was too tiring "You do realise that you're half naked?" this got a small laugh from Tenten, even though he was badly hurt he was the same person underneath.

"Yeah, I was kept here too…" she ran her hand through her hair again and Neji noticed how the light hit it _"It looks good down…"_ he realised.

It was at this point they were interrupted.

"Dynamic Entry!" a green clad figure burst through the door, reducing it to splinters. This was followed by another shout.

"No Lee! Like this! DYNAMIC ENTRY!" this time the wall next to the door was blown to pieces and another, larger, green clad figure entered, skidding next to the shorter one.

It took a few seconds for Neji and Tenten to recover from the shock as the dust settled.

Tenten stood up, and Neji could almost see the black clouds over her head. He could definitely she the dark glint in her eyes.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUARE DOING!?" she screamed "THIS IS A HOSPITAL!" both Lee and Gai were backing into the window as Tenten took a breath as she advanced "WHY DO THE TWO OF YOU HAVE TO ACT LIKE COMPLETE MANIACS ALL THE DAMN TIME!?" she seemed to run out of breath and Gai opened his mouth to apologise but Tenten started again "IF YOU GIVE ME ANY OF THAT SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH CRAP NOW I SWEAR I WILL TEAR BOTH OF YOUR HEADS OFF WITH MY BARE HANDS, RIGHT HERE!". Both the teacher and the student were now holding their hands up, attempting to placate the demon girl now two inches in front of them.

"_I guess she had to release all that stress"_ Neji reflected as Tenten continued her rant. Suddenly he noticed that the back of Tenten's gown was open. She was only wearing underwear. He quickly closed his eyes but it was too late, the image was burned into his usually surgically clean mind forever.

He tried to defuse the situation "Tenten" he called softly "Drop it". To everyone's relief she seemed to visibly deflate. Both Gai and Lee relaxed as she sat back down and gave a long, drawn out sigh.

Lee laughed uneasily "We just came because we heard Neji was injured" they both walked over to his bed.

Gai stepped forward "I heard your injuries were pretty severe" Tenten tensed slightly _"And it's __my__ fault, no matter what Neji says…"_ Gai smiled and gave his classic 'nice guy' pose "But we also heard that Tsunade-sama will be taking a look at you!" Tenten looked up, her eyes full of hope.

Lee copied the motion of his idol "She will bring you back to full health Neji, she managed to heal me perfectly!"

"Obviously there was some brain damage she couldn't fix" Neji murmured dryly, for the benefit of Tenten beside him. She giggled slightly _"I was thinking the exact same thing"_.

Lee put his hand down "Anyway, we both have missions. We just wanted to check on you before we went"

Tenten smiled and Neji gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Lee's face suddenly went serious as Gai left "I am sure Tsunade-sama will be able to treat you" he turned to leave, then turned back "I like your bandana by the way Neji!" he left the room as Neji's eyes moved up, trying to see his forehead.

"Bye then" Tenten called after him. Neji gave up trying.

Neji looked at Tenten, his eyebrows raised "I have a bandana on my head?"

Tenten nodded "I know how you hate that caged bird seal, so I covered it up" Neji's eyes moved down to her ripped gown and he put two and two together.

He looked into her eyes _"Did I do the right thing?"_ she thought.

Neji realised that even just talking was more tiring than he thought "Thanks, really" he murmured. Tenten saw him rest his head back on the pillow and close his eyes.

She held onto his hand "I'm staying here until you recover. I promise" she whispered.

Even though he didn't feel her touch or hear her words before he fell asleep, Neji felt safer in his dreams; though he didn't know why.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto watched as Hinata woke up. It started with her eyelids flickering, and then her whole body seemed to tense up slightly. She opened her eyes.

Naruto smiled "So, you've woken up huh?" Hinata looked up to see Naruto in front of her _"Something's different"_ she thought. It came to her as if out of the blue. His orange and black jacket was missing. He was only in a black T-shirt.

She started to stand up "N-Naruto-kun, where's your jacket?" she felt a weight drop off her and turned as Naruto pointed.

"I didn't think it would be good if you got cold sleeping in the shade…" he grinned sheepishly "I didn't know how long you would be out".

"_Naruto-kun lent me his jacket!?"_ due to the fact she was still half asleep she nearly fainted again, but managed to retain her composure and bent down to pick it up.

She handed it back "A-Arigato Naruto-kun" she blushed slightly

"No worries" he said as he started to put it back on. He noticed a faint smell of lavender from what Hinata had just been wearing, temporarily stopping him in his tracks. He finished putting it on, trying to brush away perverted thoughts _"Damn you Ero-Sennin"_ he found himself thinking.

Naruto zipped it up "Okay! We've worked out that you'll be great in a fight, now we just need to decide on another team mate"

Hinata looked up "D-Did you find someone N-Naruto-kun?" Naruto looked embarrassed.

"Well…Er…No" he admitted. He scratched the back of his head anxiously "I only really had one lead, and that dried up" he brightened up "But I'm sure you found someone really cool right?"

Hinata smiled "T-There's one person that I-I've found who could t-take it with the two of u-us". She paused _"The __two__ of us…"_ she noticed Naruto was beaming at her.

"I knew that'd you'd come through Hinata, you're someone I can always really rely on" Hinata blushed at the praise. "So…" Naruto continued "…when are we meeting them?"

"L-Later today" Hinata managed to stammer. Something seemed to click in Naruto's head, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Naruto's face turned more serious "Okay. Well, I haven't eaten today really" he rubbed his stomach as it chose that moment to rumble "Are you hungry?"

Hinata was in the middle of shaking her head when her stomach also chose that moment to gurgle its disapproval. Naruto stepped back.

"Wow Hinata, your stomach sure disagrees with you" Hinata only glowed crimson with embarrassment "We should get something to eat" he grabbed her hand and started running. Hinata's face somehow went even redder, but it did no justice to the feelings she was experiencing. She didn't know what to think first _"Eating with Naruto-kun!? He's holding my hand!? Is this a date!? I just sounded so disgusting…"_ were just some of the thoughts vying for attention as she sped along behind Naruto.

XXXXXXXXXX

At Konoha West Gate Shino and Chouji were waiting for Lee to make his appearance.

Chouji still didn't know what to think about Ino and Neji. Lee had run off _"But surely he wouldn't have been given a mission if his team mate had died… Even Tsunade-sama can't be __that__ sadistic"_ he thought back to some of the missions the blonde had given his team, almost picking on the fact that they had probably the smartest guy in the younger set of Chuunin, if not all of the Chuunin. However he also remembered the stories Ino had told of her training with the Hokage _"She did always say that Tsunade-sama knew what your limit was and was never __overly__ cruel…"_

Shino was still debating with himself over whether Naruto would be able to fully grasp Hinata's situation _"He certainly won't realise Hinata's feelings for him anytime soon"_ he thought _"And that will probably create a few awkward situations"_ but what about the Chuunin exam? _"He did seem to realise how important that was, and he did say he would be there to encourage her" _he briefly considered sending out bugs to check up on them. He realised what he was doing _"Do I see Hinata as a little sister…"_ about a seconds thought confirmed it. Shino sighed inwardly.

"_No…"_ both thought at the same time _"I need to just leave it, there's nothing I can do"_.

Lee chose that moment to appear "Hey guys! Are we ready to go?"

Chouji turned to him "Did you hear anything about Neji?"

Lee smiled "He's in the hospital, but Tsunade-sama will be looking at him, so he'll be fine" he suddenly looked puzzled "Wait, how did you know about that?"

Chouji grimaced, remembering the scene "Me and Ino found him" he relaxed _"So he's ok, Ino must be really relieved"_

Lee turned to Shino "Actually, do you know why Hinata was with Naruto? I saw him with her on their way to Ichiraku's".

Shino's face remained impassive "They're taking the Chuunin exam together" he said nonchalantly. "Shouldn't we be going?" _"Well, he obviously hasn't said anything stupid yet…I suppose that is a good sign"_

Realisation dawned on Lee's face, he had heard about Hinata's promotion through Tenten, who had been told by Neji. He leapt after Shino. Chouji however, was completely in the dark.

"Hey, how is Hinata taking the exam?" Chouji called to Lee and Shino's retreating backs "Hmph" he exclaimed as he followed the other two.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hinata and Naruto stood outside Ichiraku's out of breath, Hinata because of the recent use of large amounts of chakra and Naruto in anticipation of ramen.

Naruto recovered first and Hinata followed him in, taking the seat next to him.

"Hey Teuchi!" Naruto waved him over. He turned to Hinata "What do you want?"

Hinata blushed "W-Whatever you're having is fine N-Naruto-kun"

Naruto nodded "Two extra large bowls of ramen, with everything in please!" he called.

Teuchi smiled at his best customer "You don't have to shout, I'm right here" he looked at Hinata and his smile changed to a conspiratorial one "So who's this beautiful girl Naruto, you finally taking someone out?"

Hinata blushed _"Taking me out…"_ but Naruto held his hands up _"If Sakura were here and he said that I'd be getting the crap beaten out of me…"_ he shook his head to emphasise the point "Nah, we're just eating together today" he gave Hinata an apologetic smile.

Teuchi just grinned as he walked off "Whatever you say…"

Naruto tried to break the tension as Hinata seemed to have frozen.

"So once we get this other person, we'll be unbeatable" he reflected back on her techniques "This exam's gonna be a breeze". He noticed Hinata break out of her reverie.

"Ano… I-It's not just about s-strength Naruto-kun" she pointed out.

Naruto frowned, looking puzzled.

"The f-first exam Naruto-kun. Y-You know, the w-written test?" she smiled remembering when she had sat next to him in the first one _"I offered to help but he didn't want to get me into trouble…"_ she smiled at Ayame as she put the bowls down in front of them. "T-The first part of t-the Chuunin exam I took after y-you left was done purely o-on knowledge". She picked up two sets of chopsticks and gingerly passed one to him.

Naruto felt as if his world was crumbling down around him _"How could I forget? I was __so__ lucky last time…"_ he realised Hinata was offering him chopsticks and took them absent-mindedly. 'Itadakimasu!' he heard a quiet voice say beside him, but he was barely listening _"What am I gonna do? If it's like the last one, and I fail…"_ he looked at Hinata _"…She'll fail too… And after I said I'd support her in the exam, I'll probably be the reason she doesn't make it…"_

Oblivious of Naruto's thoughts Hinata was eating her first proper Ichiraku's ramen _"I always wanted to come here with Naruto-kun"_ she thought. She broke apart the sticks gently, and then proceeded to eat, daintily lifting the noodles out of the soup and placing them in her mouth.

"W-Wow, it's r-really good Naruto-kun!" she turned to thank him for bringing her here. It was then she noticed his black depression, he had hardly touched his food either. Suddenly she realised _"The exam… He had real problems last time…"_

"N-Naruto-kun?".

Naruto seemed to snap out of it "Huh, sorry Hinata. What did you say?".

Hinata put down her chopsticks and started twisting her hair round her finger "I-If you need help with studying… I-I can help…" she blushed.

Naruto's face lit up "Really? Thank you Hinata, I really think I need the help…" problem solved he started eating his own food.

Not long afterwards, Naruto had finished his food. He looked over to Hinata and to his astonishment, she had finished too _"I didn't think she'd eat an entire bowl"_ he smiled at her "Wow, you eat a lot for a girl…" he tailed off, feeling the death stare of Ayame across the counter. He held his hands up "Not that I mean anything by it, really".

"I-It's ok Naruto-kun" Hinata mumbled _"Does he think I'm fat?"_ she started looking for her purse, trying to avoid his eyes. Naruto seemed to accept it but inside he still felt bad.

"Here you go" Naruto handed over the money to Teuchi "Come on Hinata" she saw him standing up.

Ayame leaned over "Don't worry; I really don't think he meant it that way. He's totally clueless" this got a smile from Hinata "Besides…" Ayame went on "…you got a free meal out of him" she beamed as Hinata followed Naruto.

"He really is clueless" Teuchi commented.

"Yeah…" Ayame agreed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Outside in the fading light, Naruto had started apologising again. He only stopped after Hinata told him, while laughing slightly, for about the sixth time that it was ok _"He really does look funny when he's apologising like that…"_

Naruto put his hands behind his head as they started walking; finally feeling like Hinta wasn't hurt anymore. He looked up as the stars started to appear "So, who's this person who'll be joining us then?" Naruto asked.

A figure stepped out quietly "Me" it answered.

XXXXXXXXXX

And that's the end of chapter 7. In the next episode you'll find out who the member of their team will be! That's if you haven't already guessed of course. I have fun writing Naruto and Hinata moments but it's sometimes quite hard to get them just how I want them. Anyway… let me know how I'm doing, spread the love. Yada yada…

Later.


	8. Relief and Friendship

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime. Funnily enough I've got all the ideas down for the next three chapters. Even weirder than that, I already know what's gonna happen by the end of the Chuunin exam. Now I just gotta get there. I'm fairly sure it'll take a while.

Chapter 8: Relief and Friendship

Now that Lee had gone and Neji was asleep Tenten felt lonely again. Though Lee had assured both of them that Tsunade would be able to rectify the damage the she did, Tenten still felt terrible for the damage she had done to Neji.

"_He wasn't able to talk for more than five minutes without being exhausted"_ she thought _"What if Tsunade can't fix the damage, or there's lasting effects?"_ it was killing her inside, she needed to talk to Neji again, to find out how he felt _"Will he forgive me? Will __I__ forgive __myself__?"_ these sorts of questions were buzzing around her head and the stress was taking its toll. She looked at Neji again and squeezed his hand gently.

Meanwhile Tsunade was sizing up the hole in the wall and the lack of the door. She turned to see Tenten's mini-moment. She smiled _"We could have something here…"_ she went to knock on the door, remembered it wasn't there and so coughed instead.

Tenten jumped and looked up "Tsunade-sama! Thank god you're here, I heard you were coming" Tsunade noticed the young ninja was babbling slightly.

She nodded as she walked over "I'm here to take a look at him" she put her hand on Tenten's shoulder "I've heard about his injuries, he will be fine. I'm just here to make totally sure" she looked down at Neji "He has a lot of potential, we can't afford to lose him".

As the Hokage leant over Neji, Tenten almost didn't allow herself the thought _"He's going to be okay!"_ she watched as Tsunade examined Neji's body, it was comforting to see the confidence and assuredness that she gave off. The blond seemed to touch the boy's head and then straighten up. Neji stirred.

"I know he needs rest, but he needs to hear this" Tsunade explained just as Tenten was about to open her mouth.

Neji blinked a few times as he woke up for the second time that day, as his vision cleared again he saw the figure of the Hokage looming over him. If he could have stepped back, he would've.

Tsunade smiled down at him "Welcome back. I've just taken a look at you and I woke you up to tell you what I think" for a moment Neji feared the worst, but that fear evaporated as Tsunade's smile remained.

"The infection from the wound in your chest is gone" she leaned down "We can actually remove this" Neji winced as a needle was pulled out "You have already been taken off sedation but I still want you to get plenty of rest" Neji opened his mouth and Tenten took the mask off for him.

"Why is it so hard to breathe?" he asked.

Tsunade sighed "You have suffered some bad damage to your lungs. If not treated they would scar and you would basically be unable to move for the rest of your life as you would not be able to get oxygen to your muscles… But…" she went on quickly, seeing the look of shock on both Neji and Tenten's faces "…the damage is fixable" she smiled again "That's why I'm here" she watched as both the young ninja relaxed.

"How long will it take?" Neji again enquired.

Tsunade tilted her head "About a week. An operation a day. Any faster and your body could go into shock, they're sensitive things, lungs" she frowned "After it's done you'll have to rehabilitate yourself. Slowly. Okay?" Neji nodded "It will probably take you about a month to recover to full fitness. I also want you in here every day after the last operation for checkups" Neji nodded again and Tsunade grinned "Good, I'll be starting tomorrow".

Tenten turned back to Neji "And I'm going to be with you every step of the way" she promised. She turned back to the Hokage "That's ok right?"

Tsunade nodded "You are currently exempt from missions so that's fine" _"The fact that his condition is fixable has probably helped her more than anything else anyway…"_ she thought.

Neji lifted his head up slightly "That isn't necessary…" he began. But Tenten grabbed his hand again.

"Yes it is, I put you in here and I need to be here to help you out" she looked into his eyes "Please…"

Neji's expression softened "Thank you Tenten" _"There's definitely something between them"_ Tsunade thought.

She waved; turned to leave and then stopped "By the way…" she turned back, pointing at the hole in the wall and door "…What happened here?"

Tenten looked up "Oh…" she frowned, remembering "Lee and Gai-sensei happened… I already shouted at them, but feel free to do so again".

As she walked out Tsunade was wearing her shark-like smile _"Oh I will…"_ she thought evilly.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto turned in shock to see the figure standing in front of them. He looked back at Hinata and then again at the newcomer.

"You're late nee-chan. You said that you'd be back later today, not tonight…" Hanabi sighed.

Hinata started moving towards her sister and began apologising, but Hanabi cut her off. She whispered into her sister's ear "Don't worry, I understand that you wanted to be alone with him for as long as possible" she grinned Hinata's eyes widened in shock.

"I-It wasn't like that at a-all; I was training with N-Naruto-kun and…" but Hanabi only nodded patronisingly. Hinata decided to drop it.

Meanwhile Naruto finally realised what this meant. He pointed at Hanabi "She's going to be on our team?" he asked in amazement.

Hanabi frowned "You shouldn't point you know, it's rude". Hinata tried to explain.

"I-I couldn't think of a-anyone else…" _"Thanks nee-chan"_ Hanabi thought. "…B-Besides" Hinata continued "She is v-very strong, father says she i-is stronger than me…" she tailed off. _"Well he's wrong"_ Hanabi knew.

She put a hand on her sisters shoulder "That's not true Hinata, you know that" she turned to Naruto "But I am good enough to take the exam" she stated simply.

Hinata smiled at the encouragement from her younger sister "N-Naruto-kun, I do believe t-that Hanabi can take the exam w-with us. Both father and Neji-nii-san train w-with her and she is s-strong enough".

The blonde still looked confused "Doesn't she have to be a Genin to take the Chuunin exams?"

Hanabi stepped forward "Father made me take the Genin exam six months ago, I am eligible"

Naruto nodded slowly "And your father has given his assent to you taking the Chuunin exam too?" he noticed both girls avoided his eyes and stepped back in shock "You haven't?!" he asked in amazement.

Hinata looked up "W-We're working on it N-Naruto-kun" she promised.

Hanabi sighed "We have to catch father at the right moment you see".

Naruto still looked uncertain but nodded slowly "Well, if you say so…" Hanabi felt herself getting annoyed at his doubts _"Although, he hasn't seen me fight yet either. He hasn't seen me fight at all…"_ she realised.

"T-Trust me Naruto-kun"

Naruto gave his best smile "Of course I trust you" Hinata blushed as Naruto continued "I trusted you to do more than I did. I got no-one, and if you say she's strong enough then that's fine". Hinata smiled back at him as he finished.

Hanabi looked between the two, and again sighed inwardly "Er… nee-chan, it's getting dark, we should be going home…" Hinata blushed as if she'd been caught.

"Oh…Okay" she turned back to Naruto "W-We've got to go" Hanabi took her arm gently and started to pull "Bye Naruto-kun"

Naruto waved as Hinata as she was dragged away "See ya later Hinata. Meet you at your place tomorrow!" he smiled to himself. It was all going to work out _"She's doing so much for me, she's gonna help me study, she found another team mate…"_ he frowned _"…and what have I done for her?"_

"_Hinata, If you're not going to say anything don't stand there grinning like an idiot" _Hanabi thought as she dragged her sister away.

Hinata however was off in her own little world _"I'm going to be spending the next week with Naruto-kun…"_ was about all she could think.

XXXXXXXXXX

As Shino finished telling the story Chouji finally understood.

"Ohhhh, so that's how she got to Chuunin rank? I just assumed she took another exam, her promotion coincided quite well with the other one" he frowned "I think what the villagers have done to her is terrible though…" he tailed off "_"People shouldn't be made into pariahs like that…"_

"This information will not be discussed in public" Shino stated as they all leapt through the trees "Especially around Hinata, she finds it all incredibly difficult and she doesn't want anyone thinking any less of her. I told you because I think you will understand that" Chouji nodded "Good" Shino faced forward again; he seemed to have finished talking for the moment. He took out the map again and worked out where they would be meeting the ninja from the Country of Earth. He changed direction slightly.

Lee had stayed silent for the rendition of the story. He understood more now he had heard the story in full rather than third hand. There was a moment of silence as they all contemplated the problem.

Lee finally spoke up "I am sure Naruto-kun will be able to encourage Hinata to pass the exam!" he smiled and gave his 'nice guy' pose. Both of the others opened their mouths to speak but it was too late, Lee ran into a tree.

XXXXXXXXXX

Shikamaru drew his hands apart; he had come up with a plan _"This time I've actually put some thought into what I'm gonna say"_. He straightened up in his seat and looked around _"Where is she?" _he spotted her by the door talking to one of the other guys in the building. He felt a pang of jealousy but banished it. He stood up and walked over as the person left.

Temari turned, smiling "You here to ask me if I'm going out with him too?" she laughed at the look Shikamaru gave to her "So, what do you want?" she asked.

Shikamaru decided it was now or never _"Time to put the plan into action…"_ he scratched the back of his head "This is so troublesome… It's about yesterday…" Temari stared _"Is he actually going to admit he likes me? Looks like I got him to do it with that little act the other day…"_

She smiled and put her hands on her hips "Well then, go ahead" _"This should be good"_

Shikamaru coughed "You were right…" Temari beamed "…people should be more honest with their feelings…"

Temari nodded, still grinning _"This is brilliant, I've __totally__ broken him, once we start going out I'll __never__ let him live this down"_ she imagined the look on his face as she tortured him, she couldn't wait.

"So…" Shikamaru continued "…I've decided that when I get back I'll tell Ino how I feel. Thanks for helping me see that".

Temari sighed "Finally…" she breathed. Suddenly she realised what he said and stopped "No…Wait" she stuttered. But Shikamaru had already turned and was walking off _"Huh? Was he serious? But…" _this was not going how she planned _"You were meant to confess to me…damn it!"_ a chilling thought ran through her mind _"Am I going to lose him?"_

"_How do you like __those__ apples?" _Shikamaru thought _"Now she'll have to admit she likes me, I'll agree to go out with her and I'll have won"_ a victory against a girl like Temari was an achievement. He allowed himself a smile and looked into the sky, to see the sunset disappearing over the mountains that surrounded Sunagakure _"I should have worked this out a long time ago…"_

XXXXXXXXXX

The easy part of the journey was now over; they had made it to the border of the grass country. Kakashi held a hand out, ordering the team to stop. Sakura landed first, followed by Kiba and Akamaru.

Kakashi turned to the three of them "We are about to enter the Grass Country, from here on out everything will get a lot harder" Kiba raised his eyebrows and Kakashi read his thoughts "Seriously, this is no joke" he started to take his pack off his back.

Sakura started to follow suit but Kiba looked surprised "We're stopping here?" he asked.

Kakashi sighed "Yes, you two fought earlier and have both lost large amounts of chakra" he pointed at Kiba's shoulder "Plus, you were injured".

"So was she!" Kiba protested. He obviously still didn't seem to like the idea but started to take off his backpack anyway, he didn't have much choice. Akamaru seemed to get the message and curled up by a tree.

Kiba dropped his backpack on the floor "So I'll take first watch now?" he asked.

Kakashi shook his head "Like I said, you need rest" he looked at Sakura "Both of you do" he leapt into a tree "I'll be lookout for this first time" he looked at the setting sun, noting the time "I'll give you about six hours, that should be enough right?"

Sakura nodded as she took a sleeping bag out of her rucksack. She looked over at Kiba who was now lying next to Akamaru "Don't you have one of these?" she asked, holding up her sleeping bag.

Kiba shook his head "Nah, we like to sleep rough don't we Akamaru?" he got a small 'woof' as a response "Anyway…" Kiba went on "…most of the space in my bag is taken up by food for him" he smiled, closing his eyes and turning over as Sakura laid out her sleeping bag.

As she slipped into the sack Sakura realised she was tired too, more tired than she thought, but there was something picking in the back of her mind. She gave it some thought. What had Kakashi-sensei said? _"Oh yeah, talk to him, don't fight him"_ she considered the older ninja's words _"Okay, I'll give it a try"_ she thought.

She sat up "Hey Kiba" she didn't see much movement from the boy "You awake?"

Kiba opened his eyes and called back to Sakura "Y'know, that's a really stupid question. If I wasn't awake how d'you expect me to answer?" he turned over and sighed in exasperation as he looked at the pink-haired girl "Yes, I'm awake. What is it?"

Sakura sighed "Why do you hate Sasuke-kun so much?" it had really been bugging her.

Kiba looked surprised "I don't know-" he started but Sakura interrupted.

"What do you mean by that? Why did you get so angry earlier?" she demanded before she realised what she was doing. She stopped "Sorry. That was wrong of me…"

Kiba smiled faintly "No, I guess I do owe you an explanation. But…" he pointed at the girl "…you need to tell me why he gets such special status afterwards".

Sakura was caught unawares by his demand _"But it isn't that unreasonable is it?"_ she nodded "Okay, you go first then".

Kiba shrugged "Fair enough". He stared up at the sky as he began talking "It was when we all went to retrieve Sasuke".

To Sakura the memory of the whole episode was still painful, especially remembering when she had tried to stop the Uchiha, but she tried to concentrate on Kiba's words rather than her own pain.

"You probably heard that Orochimaru sent some people to escort Sasuke, right?" he continued. Sakura nodded "Well each of us got separated one by one. First it was Chouji, then Neji. Me and Akamaru got separated from Naruto and Shikamaru" he contemplated telling her how but decided it wasn't important and went on "We ended up stuck in a one on one against one of the people who'd been escorting Sasuke" he shuddered, remembering the fight "Akamaru got badly injured and I had a large wound too, so we had to run" he closed his eyes "I didn't know if we would survive, but eventually we got saved by Kankuro. Anyway, when we got back I was put in the hospital and Akamaru was treated" he paused.

"It was around then that we found out about Neji and Chouji's condition" he looked back at Sakura, right into her eyes "They both nearly died! Me and Akamaru could have too!" his face hardened as he went on "And for what? Some guy who left the village of his own will to gain power…" he spat the word "…at the expense of everyone but himself? I heard he beat up Naruto really badly, and he was on his own damn team!" he seemed to realise that he had started to get angry again "Sorry…" he apologised "…but that's why I'm angry at him".

A thought entered Sakura's head "Is that why you accepted this mission? To try and get back at Orochimaru and Sasuke-kun?" Kiba stayed silent, and Sakura laughed slightly to herself "Revenge huh?" she murmured, out of Kiba's earshot.

Kiba tried to change the subject "Anyway, you've got to answer my question now".

Sakura nodded _"Now I've got to make him understand about Sauke-kun…"_

She would have to start at the beginning "Did you know Sasuke-kun's entire clan was massacred and he was the only survivor" she asked.

"Of course I knew!" Kiba retorted "There were a million rumours about that, you couldn't not hear about it"

"Well I bet you never heard who was responsible" she thought aloud.

Kiba considered this "No, we didn't find out" he admitted "What happened?"

She decided to keep it simple "It was his own brother. He killed Sasuke-kun's entire clan, his mother, his father…everyone…" for the millionth time she tried to imagine the pain, and once again failed "…and ever since then Sasuke-kun vowed to kill him" she saw Kiba's eyes widen "He didn't go to Orochimaru for power because he just wanted to be powerful" she explained, trying not go get angry again "He wants that power to kill his brother" _"And now Itachi is after Naruto as well…" _she thought.

Kiba seemed to be about to speak, but she knew what he was going to say "I'm not defending why he left, I tried so hard to make him stay" she paused, trying not to remember "I know, you all did too, but…" the memories kept flooding back. She turned away from the boy in front of her so he couldn't see the tears welling up as she went on "…he was driven by Itachi and lured by Orochimaru. Sasuke-kun isn't a bad person…" she sniffed "…he's had it so hard".

Kiba seemed to consider something "That's not the only reason you care so much though is it?"

Sakura smiled through the tears now running down her face "No…"

Kiba stayed silent, this couldn't be rushed.

"…I told him I loved him…"

Kiba looked surprised "Loved?"

Sakura laughed hollowly "I still love him…" she closed her eyes and grimaced, the image of Sasuke leaving was burned into the beck of her eyelids. More tears fell down her face "…so much…" she choked.

Kiba finally understood _"That's why she was so angry at me earlier…I shouldn't have talked this mission down, it means everything to her…"_

He didn't speak for a while, there wasn't much to say, or that he could say.

Sakura seemed to gain a little composure back "But that's why we're on this mission though, right? To find him…" she tailed off.

"Yeah…" Kiba agreed, still unsure what he could say.

Sakura looked round and wiped her eyes "I'm sorry, you must think I'm pathetic…" Kiba shook his head as Sakura went on "…but thanks for listening"

Kiba smiled "Don't worry about it".

Sakura gave a wan smile back. Suddenly she realised she was totally exhausted, both physically and now emotionally.

Kiba could see it too "We should probably get some sleep" he nodded his head in the direction of Kakashi "He's only given us six hours"

He saw Sakura nod her agreement before sinking down on the floor. Kiba followed suit, resting on Akamaru.

As Sakura slept, the last of the tears drying on her face, she dreamt of Sasuke.

XXXXXXXXXX

So Hanabi will be joining her sister and Naruto. Some of you had it right on the money. I did get threatened with violence if a certain other character was used, which I found quite funny. I've been getting quite ahead of myself in the Chuunin exam planning. I'm really looking forward to writing the Chuunin exam. Actually, speaking of looking forward to stuff Naruto Shippuuden 31 is out tonight! Finally… If I get to 100 reviews I might give the 100th reviewer some sneak peeks, if they want 'em. Anyway…

Later.


	9. Bad Feelings

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime. Hope everyone enjoyed the Shippuuden episode. From the Op and ED it looks like new characters very soon…

Chapter 9: Bad Feelings…

For the past few days the weather had reflected Hinata's mood, the sun had shone bright in the sky, there hadn't been a cloud in sight and the heat of the day had been kept in check by a cool and soothing breeze. Added to this had been the joy of being with Naruto each and every one of those beautiful days. They had trained together, and Naruto had encouraged her to the point her confidence was really growing. They had eaten together too and on top of that she had helped him as much as possible with studying for the exam. So far it had been bliss.

Today however, as Hinata stepped outside, she noticed that the sky was overcast and some of the clouds looked menacing. The sun was completely obscured.

"_That could be a bad omen"_ she thought to herself _"I hope this isn't a sign of how the talk with father will go…"_ she sighed _"If father doesn't let Hanabi enter what will we do?"_ she shook herself and tried to put those thoughts to the back of her mind. Today was going to be another day with Naruto-kun and the weather was just changing. That didn't have to mean anything did it?

Behind her sister, Hanabi watched Hinata look up at the sky, searching for the sun and practically read her thoughts. She put a hand up on her sister's shoulder.

"Don't worry nee-chan" she soothed "I have asked father some indirect questions lately. I think he will be open to the idea" she smiled "He actually said yesterday that he doesn't think there's anyone else in my age group who would have the ability to take the exam with me, he seemed quite annoyed".

Hinata put a hand on her chest "That's a relief" she looked into her younger sister's eyes "But will you wait until I return home before you ask him?"

Hanabi nodded "Of course".

"_I know you want to make completely sure that this happens"_ Hanabi thought to herself.

Hinata smiled and thanked her younger sibling, but Hanabi pointed behind her.

She turned as her sister spoke "He's here, you should go"

"Mm" Hanabi noticed her sister's hand went up to her hair and started playing with it, while her face coloured slightly. Naruto made her so nervous…

"_She should just calm down, then everything would be so much easier for her"_ but she knew it was how her sister was, mainly due to their father _"Hopefully this exam will help her confidence"_ Hanabi prayed. She watched her sister pick up her bag by the door and walk toward the entrance to meet the blonde boy.

XXXXXXXXXX

Outside as Hinata went to greet Naruto, the spiky-haired ninja was admiring the Hyuuga residence for yet another time.

"_I wonder what it's like to live in such a grand place"_ he thought, his mind wandering back to his tiny apartment. He tried to work out how many times bigger this place was compared to his _"I'll ask Hinata"_ he decided _"She's lived in this place her entire life, and she's the heir to it all. Actually, she's pretty much a princess isn't she…"_ Naruto realised.

As he was thinking this the said princess walked out and greeted him "G-Good morning Naruto-kun" she managed, still winding a lock of hair around her finger.

Naruto attempted to bury the 'Hyuuga princess' thought and not be too startled at her sudden appearance at the same time. He did this in his usual way, by being as exuberant as possible "Hey Hinata! You ready to go?" he exclaimed as energetically as possible. He noticed Hinata smile.

"_He's always so bright"_ she thought. She nodded in response to his question, and they both set off towards the training ground.

Naruto decided to ask straight out "So Hinata…" she turned "…what's it like living in such a massive place? It must be pretty cool right, you've gotta have everything in there!"

Hinata smiled "Mm…i-it does have most of the things that w-we need"

"I bet!" Naruto enthused.

Hinata gave a small laugh "W-we do have our own baths, the guardhouse, the main house, the b-branch family's house of course and a few g-gardens…" she especially liked the gardens.

"_They're so peaceful…I can relax there…"_ she thought to herself.

Naruto was impressed "Wow, it sounds even bigger than it looks. How many rooms do you have?"

Hinata blushed; this was going to sound terrible, especially to a person who had so little, in so many ways "I-I don't really know" she admitted "I h-haven't seen them all…"

"_I must sound so snobbish…"_ she imagined.

Naruto's eyes widened "Really?" he asked incredulously. Hinata nodded shyly, ashamed.

"I wonder how much bigger your place is compared to mine" Naruto wondered aloud.

Hinata blushed again "I-It's not that great N-Naruto-kun"

Naruto raised his eyebrows "Oh?" he enquired.

"It's r-really hard to get any privacy, e-especially in a house with our bloodline limit…"she sighed "I'm sorry" she apologised.

Naruto looked surprised "Why?" he asked.

"M-My problems must sound s-so silly to you…" she trailed off.

Naruto scratched the back of his head "Nah…Anyway it's good that you can talk like this" he laughed "I remember when you hardly used to speak at all, I like that you've become more comfortable talking" he smiled and Hinata blushed "Anyway…" he continued, putting his arms behind his head and looking into the air "…we're team mates now, if you've got a problem then it's a problem for all of us" Hinata blushed even deeper.

"A-Arigato Naruto-kun" she stammered.

"And if you want to get away from it all at your place, you can come visit me!" Hinata's eyes widened and she looked at him to see if he was joking.

"_I don't think he is!"_ Hinata thought _"Naruto-kun invited me to his place!"_

"Really?" she asked, still unsure of whether to believe it.

"Yeah. It gets pretty lonely sometimes!" he joked.

This got her attention. His usual smile was wrapped across his face, but as she had found out it could just be a front put up to hide something. She looked into his eyes and her kind heart quailed. The pain of loneliness within that she had so often felt herself was right there in his eyes and she felt the almost uncontrollable urge to again just hold him.

"_It's so like you to hide it that way Naruto-kun"_ she thought sadly _"But don't worry, I understand…"_

She smiled, desperately trying to convey her understanding "I p-promise, I will visit you then N-Naruto-kun" she said quietly.

Naruto seemed to let his guard down slightly and this time Hinata could see from his eyes that his smile was genuine "Thanks…" he managed, hesitantly. He brightened up again "It's not much though, I'm sure you're used to much better!" Hinata stayed silent and instead looked straight ahead, not wanting to offend him. She noticed that they had reached the training ground, and fortunately he noticed too. The day could return to normal, and they would be able to enjoy each other's company while they trained together.

Naruto laughed "Well, let's get started right?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Even though a few days had passed since her talk with Shikamaru, Temari still didn't know what to think. The thing that had been most annoying was that she had lost sleep over it.

"_Over that lazy ass crybaby!"_ she thought to herself in disbelief _"If he wants to go confess to that girl then screw him!" _she tried to think the thought with conviction but found she just couldn't. But what was wrong with him as well? _"Whenever I'm in Konoha he won't leave me alone, even if he __says__ it's a mission. And that whole thing with asking me if I'm going out with anyone…Grr…"_ her head started to hurt again.

Kankuro realised that for the last few minutes that he had been talking to his sister the conversation had been completely one-sided. He decided to throw in something to get her attention.

"By the way, Gaara's dead" he tried. He sighed, her vacant look didn't change. Suddenly her eyes narrowed.

"What?" she asked suspiciously.

Kankuro raised an eyebrow "So you're back?"

Temari frowned "Back from where?"

Kankuro shrugged "I dunno, but you're going to have to wake up. You're escorting the Genin out now" he watched as Temari rubbed her eyes with the tips of her fingers "Have you been getting enough sleep?" he asked. Her thoughts wandered back to Shikamaru.

Kankuro wondered what was going on. Usually she was steady as a rock but lately she kept spacing out. He waved a hand in front of her face "Hey!"

Her eyes refocused "What?" she asked, sounding annoyed "Look, I haven't got time for this, I've got to go" she huffed as she started to walk off. Kankuro scratched his head.

"_That was disconcerting…half the time she was off with the fairies and the other half she was exactly the same as normal" _he shrugged to himself, there wasn't much he could do _"She'll just bitch at me if I try to bring it up"_ he knew. Older sisters were a pain…

XXXXXXXXXX

For his part Shikamaru was outside in the Sand village looking over the Genin he would be escorting with Temari back to Konoha for the exam. He had only seen her in passing over the last few days but from what he could tell in those short meetings she was not getting enough sleep. He knew it couldn't be the mission: that was easy enough, so…

"_The plan's working…"_ he thought to himself, smiling _"…and it's taking so little effort"_ and in his opinion that was the best part. But he couldn't take it that easy _"I have to act as if everything's normal and nothing's happened"_ he decided. He saw her arrive and steeled himself.

She still felt really tired and probably looked it too, she reflected. But other than that she gave no impression of being stressed or worried about anything _"I'm not going to show any weakness, I'll decide what to do and do it confidently. I __refuse__ to act like some little __fangirl__"_ she thought as her mind drifted onto some of Gaara's younger female supporters. She shivered to herself _"I'd __die__ before I acted like that"_ she vowed.

Off to her left Shikamaru noticed that she was giving very little away and though he was confident that his plan was working, he couldn't be one hundred percent sure _"I guess that's why I like her though, she's her own person"_ he admitted to himself _"Even if she __is__ troublesome"._ He tried to focus on what the blonde girl was saying.

Temari gave the Genins a hard look, made even scarier by the dark rings under her eyes "Does everyone have everything they need for the exams?" she asked, narrowing her eyes "Once we leave, we won't be turning back. Got it?" none of the Genin moved. She gave a look of complete indifference "Fine." she gave Shikamaru an almost cursory glance, knowing he was watching her. She checked her fan was secure on her back before setting off ahead of the group "Let's go" she called, simply.

Shikamaru smiled, knowing she wouldn't turn around _"That's so like her…"_

He followed the slightly stunned Genin.

XXXXXXXXXX

Even though the sky had been grey since the morning the fading light indicated to both of the ninja that it was approaching evening and that they should probably call it a day.

Hinata sighed to herself, once again the day had flown by and she hadn't even realised it. Spending time with Naruto-kun was like that she realised. It didn't matter if they were training, eating, just talking, or if she was trying to teach him something. Everything seemed to fly by like it was some wonderful dream which, Hinata reflected, it kind of was. She found herself blushing at the thought.

Opposite her, Naruto stretched "Today was great again Hinata!" he enthused.

She smiled "Mm… Y-You've been doing really w-well. Y-You should do well in the exams n-now Naruto-kun"

The boy scratched the back of his head "You did really help though; I don't think I would have understood much of it without you". This was entirely true, stuff that Iruka-sensei had tried to teach him that he had completely ignored seemed to make a lot more sense when Hinata explained it "I wouldn't say that I'll do well though…" he admitted "…but you and Hanabi should be able to make up for my marks right?"

She smiled again at his honesty, in truth she had known he was struggling with the lessons _"But he didn't give up, and that's what I like about him…"_ she thought, blushing. Plus, teaching him was fun. She stuttered a lot less when she was teaching, and some of the expressions that he made when he didn't understand… were so cute.

Hinata shook her head "J-Just do your best Naruto-kun, t-that's all you can do".

"Sure, thanks!" he nodded, getting up from where he had been sitting. He offered a hand down to her and pulled her to her feet "Do you want to go get some food then? I'm kinda hungry" he patted his stomach to emphasise the point.

"O-Okay" Hinata agreed.

"Great!" Naruto exclaimed. He saw the look on Hinata's face "What is it?"

Hinata pointed around the training area "Shouldn't we clear up around here?"

Naruto took a look around "Ohhh…yeah, I guess I should fetch my kunai as well. It's a bit expensive to replace them" he was struck with a sudden thought and laughed "I wonder if Tenten sneaks around stealing other people's used weapons, it's got to be too expensive for her to buy them all".

Hinata shared the mental image of Tenten sneaking around on tiptoes pinching weapons. She giggled slightly, and Naruto realised the sound was really cute. For a moment he was too surprised at the thought to realise she had started picking up his weapons.

He held out a hand "Hey, wait" she turned, surprised as he stepped forward "Don't worry, I'll do that myself. You go to Ickiraku's and order me something, I'll catch up" he smiled "Okay?"

She smiled, handing him the kunai she had retrieved "O-Okay" she started to walk in the direction of the village and then stopped "Ano… w-what would you like Naruto-kun?" she called.

"Oh, just the usual" he called back. He noticed that she was still looking at him "Don't worry, I'll be there in two minutes" she seemed to accept this and resumed walking. He chuckled to himself.

"_She's so strange sometimes; she was going to pick up the weapons __I__ had thrown. Still…"_ he thought _"…it just goes to show what kind of person she is"_ he smiled.

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile Hinata was making her way to Ickiraku's in a really good mood. Her thoughts went back to earlier in the day _"It was silly of me to get so worked up about something like the weather"_ she scolded herself happily. The day with Naruto-kun had gone well and he had thanked her for helping…and now she was going to eat with him again. She closed her eyes and thanked god that she had been so lucky to get moments like these with him.

It was probably because she had her eyes closed and was distracted that she didn't sense the person in front of her until she had walked into him.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" the man cried angrily as she hit the floor. Hinata pulled her hand from underneath her; it had been scratched as she had hit the floor and she noticed it was bleeding slightly. She looked up to see who she had run into, she didn't recognise him…

The man's eyes narrowed "Hey, you're…" his voice sounded sinister as he tailed off. Hinata pushed herself to her feet, still nursing her hand.

"Well, apologise!" the man demanded.

The indigo-haired girl cowered slightly "Um…S-Sorry, I-I didn't m-mean to walk i-into-" she began, but the man cut her off.

"Not for that! For being a slight on Konoha's good name!" he accused.

Hinata stepped back "W-What?" she stuttered as her heart quailed in fear of what he was about to say.

"You're the Hyuuga girl" he stated darkly "Everyone knows you're weak, so how did you defeat all those ninja alone?! Huh?!" he strode towards her menacingly.

Hinata hardly noticed, as memories that she had tried so hard to bury resurfaced.

Images entered her mind in flashes, torturing her.

Kiba, Akamaru, Kurenai and Shino down.

The man at her back with a kunai to her throat.

The physical desire to prove she was not weak, to survive.

The ensuing fight, purely instinctive.

The realisation that she had killed, repeatedly, without even thinking.

Hinata suddenly felt sick to her stomach, her legs nearly giving way beneath her. Her next words came out as sobs.

"I-I h-haven't done a-anything w-wrong…" she cried, not actually believing her own words.

"Oh really, well if you're so innocent then prove it". He frowned as Hinata recoiled and shook "I bet you've got a cursed seal hidden somewhere haven't you? How else could someone as weak as you be powerful?" he grabbed her arm and Hinata let out a squeal. She tried to pull away, but found she was shaking too much. She tried and failed to fight the ever rising panic as her vision darkened.

Her eyes reflected the dark clouds above as she lost consciousness.

XXXXXXXXXX

See, you should always rely on your instincts. This chapter was a bit shorter than the other recent ones, but I think if I tried to add any more it would have spoiled the flow. There has been a break of about 3 or 4 days in the story just to clarify things. Anyway, I need sleep.

Later.


	10. Saviors

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime. Hope everyone enjoyed the Shippuuden episode. From the Op and ED it looks like new characters very soon…

Chapter 10: Saviours

Naruto checked that all the kunai that had been littered around the field were cleared. As he did so his last Kage Bunshin handed him the last few kunai and disappeared in a puff of white smoke. He smiled; it had only taken a minute, less than what he had said to Hinata. He took a last look around and noticed she had left her bag behind.

He walked over and picked it up _"I'll run and catch her up" _he decided _"If she's walking to Ichiraku's she won't have made it far"_ he thought as he started to run _"I'll treat this like training too!" _he ran down an alleyway up ahead.

Naruto briefly considered taking a shortcut and surprising Hinata by arriving ahead of her with her bag _"Imagine the look on her face…"_ he found himself thinking. He prepared to jump onto the roof of the building opposite.

However, the moment before he leapt he heard a noise off to his right. He turned his head in surprise _"Was that a scream…?"_ he asked himself. Suddenly he started to get a very bad feeling, and Naruto was always one to trust his instincts. He charged in the direction of the noise, his heart in his mouth.

XXXXXXXXXX

A little way away Hinata had lost consciousness and in doing so her legs had finally given way from underneath her. She slipped from the man's grasp and fell onto the floor roughly.

The man laughed "I guess you really were weak you stupid girl, I hardly touched you!" he nudged her with his foot roughly "You know…" he went on; still talking to the fallen figure "…a lot of people are afraid of you because of that incident, they think you have some evil power" he smirked "But you know what, I'm not afraid" he nudged her again, harder this time "Actually, I wanted to see this 'evil' girl myself, it must be my lucky day…".

He kicked her, properly this time "You're just weak; the whole 'incident' was probably just some trick wasn't it? In fact…" he looked at her in disgust "…it probably never happened did it? Just another lie from the brat of the Hyuuga family" he spat "You were born with so many privileges, and do you deserve any of them?" he kicked her again.

Suddenly he had a thought, and looked around carefully _"Would anyone actually miss her? If she disappeared would __anyone__ care? After all those rumours a lot of the villagers are scared of her and it's a well known fact that the Hyuuga heir is a weakling, just look at her…"_ he reasoned_ "…her clan wouldn't give a shit"_ he looked down at the girl on the floor and bent down_ "Konoha doesn't need this trash…"_ he quickly looked around again and made a decision. He was about to put his hand around the girl's throat when-

"HEY!" the man turned, but not fast enough. He was thrown into the opposite wall by a punch hard enough to shatter bricks. He tried to move, but realised two sets of arms were holding him fast.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING YOU BASTARD?" the man looked into the eyes of his assailant.

Naruto bent down to check the indigo haired girl, breathing heavily. He noticed the marks on her jacket from where she had been kicked and he desperately tried to control himself.

"_Not here, of all places, for the love of…"_ he told himself, clenching his fists in concentration as he felt his anger rise _"I can't lose control in Konoha, or in front of Hinata…"_ he breathed out raggedly, hardly noticing the cuts on his hands caused by his lengthened nails.

Suddenly, he heard some movement in front of him and looked up. The man had whipped out a concealed wrist knife and stabbed one of the Bunshins. Naruto made as if to stop him but the bastard had already used the opening to get himself clear, jumping onto the opposite roof and away from the angry spiky haired youth.

He stopped and looked back down at the blonde and the girl; holding his shattered and bleeding cheekbone.

"I guess it's almost fitting that a loser would be saved by a monster" he called down, before wincing at the pain. He resumed eye contact and suddenly realised killing intent was running from the boy in massive waves. Even worse, his eyes were very slightly tinged with red. Now was not the time to start a fight with the brat. He jumped away; cursing the fact the blonde had been left alive all those years ago.

Back down in the alley Naruto, in the midst of his rage, very nearly followed the injured man to show him how much of a monster he could be. What stopped him, among other things, was the prone girl lying on the ground. Her expression of terrible pain almost stopped the boy's heart, as his rage transformed into both sadness and resolve.

"_What did we do to deserve such pain?"_ he asked himself, as he scooped up the young kunoichi from the ground. He turned in the direction of the Hyuuga compound and leapt off, his expression set in a look of grim determination while the girl in his arms twitched, as if suffering from a bad dream.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_I think I'm beginning to be able to manage the workload"_ Ino thought to herself. Over the past few days, working in the hospital as a full on medic in charge of serious cases had been a real shock. When she had first started she had had to contend with the looks of distain due to her age from both patients and staff alike. Not just that, the hours she had worked were nothing less than epic and she had realised by now that working on chakra endurance was a virtual necessity to become a truly successful medical ninja. After every day at the hospital she had come back exhausted from chakra depletion

She checked the chart on a patients' bed to make sure the correct drugs were being administered and smiled. Though the initial shock had been bad, she had gotten used to it and was now actually relishing the challenge.

"_Even better than that…"_ she thought _"…is the satisfaction of being able to physically see the results of training and being able to use that knowledge to help people"_ she had to thank Chouji when she saw him next _"if he hadn't insisted that we get to the scene of the accident when we did…"_ she knew so many things could be different.

She brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes "Now, what was next?" she said to herself.

"_Oh yeah, Neji's appointment with Tsunade-sama. I've got to prep him for it"_ she left the room and set off down the hall to where Neji had been for nearly a week now. As she opened the door she admired the plasterwork done on the repaired wall, it no longer looked as if it had been half demolished and now actually allowed some privacy.

Neji and Tenten both greeted her as she entered the room.

"_Neji looks a hell of a lot better"_ Ino realised, looking at him. Though he had always been pale what colour he had had seemed to have almost completely returned. Due to the Hokage's ministrations he had also been taken off the breathing apparatus as he could now breathe on his own, though he was still not strong enough to get up.

"_This is job satisfaction"_ she thought to herself happily. Though she didn't brag about it, Neji had survived due to her healing skill and she knew it. Added to that, the initial doubtful looks from her peers had disappeared once news about the incident had spread and Ino was able to bask in a small but satisfying glow of acknowledgement for what she had done.

She nodded to both of them "Tsunade-sama will be arriving shortly" she informed them. Ino addressed Neji "How are you feeling?"

Neji gave his trademark half smile "Better" he admitted "Still short of breath, but better".

Ino nodded "You know the drill; I'll put you to sleep and you, Tenten…" she turned "…will have to leave".

Tenten smiled "I know" she stated simply.

Ino laughed slightly "Sorry, I know you've done this a few times now but it's important that everything is done properly so that he can make the quickest recovery possible". She could understand why Tenten didn't like leaving. Though she was blonde, she wasn't blind, or stupid.

"_Unlike a certain other blonde hyperactive ninja, who can be __both__ sometimes"_ she thought.

Neji and Tenten were actually quite cute though, Ino thought. It was the little things that gave them away. For example the bandana-like cloth that Neji was still wearing, though Tenten was now wearing normal clothes again instead of the torn gown. The way you could catch Neji's eyes on Tenten occasionally and the awkward silence that would fill the room for a brief moment whenever someone else came in. Of course the biggest giveaway was the fact that she hadn't left the hospital the entire time, except to get her clothes from home. Other than that she had only left the room to shower in a bathroom just down the hall, or when Tsunade-sama was operating.

"_God knows what they talk about the whole time"_ Ino thought _"But I guess maybe they don't need to"_ it was probably enough for him that she was around, and vice versa _"The whole thing must have been pretty traumatic"_ she considered.

As Tenten opened the door to leave, glancing one last time at Neji, Tsunade made her entrance. Her jacket billowed out behind her and once again Tenten felt secure in the knowledge that Neji was in safe hands, Tsunade's presence being enough to instil confidence. Neji gave her a small nod, which she returned with a smile as she slid the door shut.

Ino scurried about as Tsunade made her appearance, preparing Neji to go under. He nodded as she silently asked the question and she held left her hand just over his forehead applying a careful amount of chakra to send the older boy to sleep.

She turned to the older lady "He's ready Tsunade-sama".

The Hokage nodded and stepped towards Neji "Thank you Ino" she noticed the girl was making as if to leave and motioned for her to stop. She smiled "I hear you have been doing well; I trust the workload is not too heavy?" she inquired.

Ino shook her head "No, thank you" she replied respectfully.

"Good. Would you like to watch?" she indicated to Neji.

Ino nodded "Yes please" she moved opposite Tsunade to watch as she started the procedure.

It started with precise control of chakra around the hands, which Tsunade then moved over the boy's chest. She explained what she was doing in a low, considered and level tone.

"The difficulty he has in breathing is due to the remaining blood in his lungs" she explained "Fortunately, due to the fact that the lungs are moist, most of the blood did not dry out and the blood that did I have already removed. That part was the most dangerous to his health" she paused, concentrating on her work. Ino knew much better than to ask questions, the Hokage would take her time to tell her.

"Right now…" Tsunade continued "…I am moving the remaining blood up through his lungs and out of his body through his mouth" Ino watched as Tsunade moved her hands slowly across Neji's chest and throat, up to his mouth where red stained chakra moved itself into the Hokage's hand.

The older blonde deposited the blood into a metal pot by the bed and turned back "It's even harder to do this than it sounds, the lungs are the most sensitive internal organs and drawing things out of them can cause irritation, infections and even actual physical damage if it is done too roughly" she paused again to drop a little more blood into the pot "I'm sure you are aware the lung is not a big inflatable sack, but a series of channels each branching out and getting progressively smaller until the alveoli. It can be very easy to damage them, that's why I am only drawing out a little each day, any more and the lungs could become inflamed or damaged. Maybe even permanently"

Ino nodded but stayed silent, watching the procedure and trying to glean as much as possible from the words of the medical genius. The procedure continued for another ten minutes and finally Tsunade stopped, finally allowing herself to shiver slightly at the blood in the pot.

She sighed "That should do for today. It would be best to let him wake up on his own" she cautioned the girl in front of her. Ino nodded, still stunned by the level of expertise that had just been demonstrated right in front of her eyes. She barely noticed Tsunade open the door and tell Tenten she could come back in.

"_One small mistake, one little loss of concentration…"_ Ino reflected _"…and you tear open the lung"_ she found she had a new respect for the Hokage, gained from actually experiencing her power. Obviously she knew that Tsunade was a medical specialist but there was a difference between hearing stories and actually witnessing such a procedure _"I have a long way to go before I'm anywhere near her"_ she realised _"But I want to learn"_

XXXXXXXXXX

The Hyuuga compound was just up ahead and Naruto finally allowed himself to relax slightly. He had been replaying the events of the past twenty minutes in his head repeatedly and the same thoughts kept cropping up.

"_What if I had gone straight to Ichiraku's? What if I hadn't heard her scream? If I had taken longer to collect all the kunai, would I have made it in time? Why did I let her go alone?"_ he looked down at the unconscious figure in his arms and thanked every god he could think of that he had made it in time, that he had heard the scream.

He saw Hanabi outside and watched as she first looked amused at the sight of her sister in his arms and then looked concerned when she recognised his expression. As he stopped, her eyes took in the marks on her sisters' jacket.

"_A training accident?"_ she thought uncertainly. She was about to open her mouth to ask the question when Naruto interrupted her.

"She was attacked" the blonde stated simply.

Hanabi's eyes widened "By who?" she asked incredulously.

Naruto shook his head "I don't know…" he tailed off.

"…_but they'll pay…"_ he finished to himself. The young Hyuuga girl saw the fire in his eyes and decided more questions along similar lines would be little use for now.

"Is she hurt?" she asked instead.

"I don't think so; I caught it before anything too serious happened" he was still cursing himself for leaving her alone "I think she just needs rest…"

Hanabi checked her sister with the Byakugan for injuries beneath her clothing. There seemed to be some bruising, but not much else. She gestured to the blonde boy.

"Bring her inside and we'll put her in bed" she beckoned Naruto to follow her.

The short journey to Hinatas room was completed in a heavy silence as Naruto wondered what he should do and Hanabi wondered what had happened. As he laid Hinata down on her bed, he felt another wave of guilt for not being there to protect her.

As both Hanabi and Naruto left the room Hinata twitched again in her sleep.

Outside, Naruto turned to the young Hyyuga girl "When she wakes up, tell her…" he paused, trying to work out what to say "…tell her that I'm sorry…and that I'll meet her the day after tomorrow, and…" he frowned "I've got to speak to Tsunade baa-chan about this" he murmured to himself. He looked down at Hanabi with a serious face "…make sure she doesn't go out alone, okay?" Hanabi nodded "Good. Make sure she's okay too. I've got to go…" he turned away and sprinted off.

Hanabi still stood flat-footed _"Someone attacked nee-chan?"_ she thought to herself _"Why?"_ her thoughts turned slowly onto Hinata's Chuunin promotion. She turned back and slid open the door to her sisters room to see the older girl shudder in her sleep.

"nee-chan…" Hanabi whispered sadly.

XXXXXXXXXX

Lee looked puzzled "So where are they Shino-kun?" he asked.

Shino didn't turn "This is the meeting point that we were told the Rock ninja were rendezvousing with us at" he stated.

Chouji sighed "But they aren't here, and they should be here already. So where are they?" he was starting to get hungry, and this waiting wasn't helping.

"I have sent out bugs to investigate their whereabouts. Be patient" he advised. There was a buzzing sound to his left and a number of bugs landed on his arm. Lee and Chouji waited as patiently as they could.

Lee lost his nerve "So, what's happened?"

Shino faced to where the bugs had come from "They are further South, I do not know why. We should go" he jumped away.

Chouji turned to Lee "He can be a bit anti-social sometimes can't he?"

Lee nodded "He should learn to enjoy and express his youthful energy more!" he demonstrated his own by launching himself as hard as possible from his perch.

Chouji was left feeling slightly awkward _"I just meant he could talk a bit more…"_ he felt himself missing Shikamaru. He wanted a conversation that didn't involve the mission or 'the burning power of youth'. He reluctantly followed Lee and Shino.

XXXXXXXXXX

The last bit of the chapter seems a little odd at the moment but it will make more sense later, don't worry. What will the Rock ninja be like? How will Tsunade react to the news of Hinata's attack? Will Hinata be okay? And Hanabi still hasn't been entered for the exam… Thoughts anyone?

Later.


	11. Introductions and a Nightmare

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime. Another episode tonight…I would actually like to thank everyone who has reviewed this story so far, they really energise me into writing more. Just so you all know, I have an essay in for about three weeks. I'm saying this because around the due date I will not post so regularly, however I will try and write as many chapters ahead as possible and when I do finish the essay I will probably post two or three chapters at once as a reward for waiting. Just thought I'd let you know some time in advance.

Chapter 11: Introductions and a Nightmare

The light was dropping, and the sounds in the forest seemed to be quietening down slowly but surely. There was no real difference between the Country of Fire and the Country of Grass in terms of terrain so at least in that respect they could all be a little more comfortable.

Kakashi stayed alert. As he had said to the others, from here on out it would be more difficult. Still, he had not expected it to be this difficult. He thought back to when they had all crossed the border between the two countries and smiled, Kiba sure didn't think it was a joke anymore. He looked across at the figures of two sleeping ninja and a dog.

"_I think it's about time to change watch"_ Kakashi thought to himself _"It's Kiba's turn this time I think…"_ he jumped quietly over to the sleeping boy and shook him gently. He saw Kiba's eyes flicker, and then one eye opened.

"Haven't they moved on yet?" was the slightly muffled question raised.

Kakashi shook his head "No, it's your turn to keep watch on them" he informed his team mate.

Kiba sighed _"We've been in the Country of Grass for three, or was it four days…"_ he couldn't remember, the shaky sleep patterns brought on by the constant surveillance of Grass ninja patrols had fried his brain slightly _"…and we've made such slow progress, trying to avoid these patrols"_

He sat up in front of Kakashi and nodded "Okay, fine, but do you have any idea when they're going to move?" he asked.

Kakashi shrugged "No, but based on the last few we've detected they won't stay for too long" he paused, reflecting on what they had seen "They have a good patrol system, it would be impossible to get a larger number of ninja through their country without one of the teams noticing. One of the advantages of a small country I guess. As for them…" he turned in the direction of the current ninja patrol in their way, that seemed to have stopped for the past few hours "…if they don't leave soon, we may have to create some sort of diversion. Of course, that could bring other patrols running…" he considered "…but we need to get to the meeting point in time" he sat down, then looked up at the boy "You can keep track of them?"

Kiba grinned "Of course"

"Good" Kakashi leant back against the tree "I'll take a short break, but if they move, we move" he warned.

Kiba was already gathering chakra around his olfactory organ and Kakashi knew that he understood as he closed his eyes. Kiba finished accumulating his chakra and sensed three people out there in the gathering darkness, not counting the members of his team. They were spaced out, and it looked like they were all alert. If he was going to bet on when they would move…

"_After nightfall, when they think they'll be less detectable and more stealthy"_ it was as good a bet as any. He took a quick look at the rest of his team and focused on Sakura _"She's lucky…"_ he thought to himself _"She hasn't had to do any of this surveillance crap, I really wish we could just wade in there…"_ it was an irrational thought he knew, but he was getting tired of all this sneaking around. The thing was, walking into another country unannounced and shouting your presence was a sure fire way of getting yourself killed very quickly. He knew that.

"_I'm still bored though…"_ he thought bitterly, once again concentrating on the other ninja in the forest.

XXXXXXXXXX

Back behind the borders of the Country of Fire, Shino, Lee and Chouji were all still moving South along the border of the Grass country looking for the Genin from the Rock village. The question that was on all of their minds was:

"_How come they weren't at the original meeting place?"_ But it was a question none of them could answer. Fortunately, Shino had found out the location of the missing Genin so at least they could fulfil their mission. So far there had been no sign, according to Shino, that there were any other problems apart from the obvious fact that the Rock ninja weren't where they were supposed to be.

Suddenly Shino motioned for the two behind him to stop and as he did so they both skidded onto separate branches behind him. Both Lee and Chouji looked questioningly at the hooded figure in front of them.

Shino pointed up ahead "They're here" he informed them. "We should introduce ourselves without causing a fuss, after all…they are not where they are meant to be…we should keep it simple" as he finished, Shino alighted from his branch and down onto the grass below.

Lee followed him enthusiastically "Yes! Now we get to meet those that we will be protecting!" he called.

Chouji followed Lee, though not as embarrassingly vocal, he too was excited to see the ninja from the Rock village and was glad that their search had ended. He was also curious about what had caused them to end up so far from their original meeting place.

Though it had been cloudy in Konoha earlier that day, in this part of the Fire Country it had been clear and the sunset was still able to break through the leaves of the trees above. As the three of them walked into the clearing they caught sight of nine ninja in the fading light, all with the emblem of the Rock village emblazoned on their forehead protectors.

Lee noticed a few of them looked shocked to see the three new ninja in their midst and raised his hands in a placating gesture, with a smile on his face.

Shino broke the silence "Where are the rest of you? There were meant to be at least another three teams" he called out. Chouji sighed slightly, once in a while it might be an idea to show some empathy, maybe reassure these ninja who were outside their own country.

"There was some trouble going through the Grass Country, the teams with the Jounin escorts weren't allowed through. We were only allowed along the border" one of the nine called out. Chouji noticed he was one of the tallest people he had ever seen, that was evident even from this distance.

Lee looked worried "Will they be able to make it through?" he asked.

The figure nodded "I was told they are being put under heavy escort, it seems the Ninja from the Land of Grass do not trust anyone going through their territory. Once they are here, they should be able to make it to your village".

Shino was still not happy, but these three teams were the ones that they were meant to be escorting. He couldn't wait here. He motioned to his other two team mates, signalling them to join him.

"We should escort these Genin to Konoha…" he began as they made their way over "…The others failed to make it to the agreed rendezvous point and if they miss the exam then it is through no fault of our own, besides…" he turned to face the other Rock Genin in the trees "…these were the ones we were meant to escort" he turned back.

Lee continued to look concerned "But what about the others?"

"We don't even know if they will arrive, and as has been pointed out, they will be able to find their way. The issue is protection" he reasoned. Chouji nodded slowly; after all, there was a limit to what they could do.

"It is agreed then?" Shino asked. He got two nods as a reply.

Lee gave a nod to the closest set of Genin "I will be escorting you three to Konoha!" he exclaimed, gaining unenthusiastic nods; it was obvious to them that someone was a little too eager. Despite this however they gathered around the green jump suit wearing boy and headed off back in the direction of Konoha.

Shino pointed to the next group along "You will follow me" he stated simply. This got a few smirks.

"_Evidently this group is confident in its abilities_" Shino thought. It didn't matter to him. He calmly called his bugs from around the area back into his jacket, though this didn't gain much reaction either from the Genin around him. They seemed determined not to show anything. That suited him fine he thought to himself, jumping into the trees and being quickly followed by the next three Rock ninja behind.

Chouji stood in front of the last three. He realised he had been left with the tall ninja and his two team mates. He smiled and nodded to them.

"Looks like I'm the one who's going to be taking you all then" he called as they made their way towards him "My name's Chouji" he held out his hand.

For once Chouji found that he felt incredibly small as the large ninja took his hand and introduced himself "Hello" he started "My name is Sho, from Iwagakure" he let go of Chouji's hand to introduce the two behind him "And these are my two team mates. The one on the left is Mihoto…and she…" he gestured to the other girl who looked identical to the first "…is Eri. They're twins" he added by way of explanation "You may not be able to see a difference now, but you will" he promised.

Now that Chouji was next to him he finally took a proper look at the ninja who he hadn't been able to see so well due to the poor light. He was wearing a brown T-Shirt with a black open jacket and black three-quarter lengths which faded, to a brown flame pattern at the bottom.

"_All the earthy colours, but I guess he __is__ from the Country of __Earth__…"_ Chouji thought, looking even further down.

The Rock ninja's footwear was also brown and seemed to be made out of leather and now that he had turned towards the other two Chouji could also see a large silver hammer strapped to his back, with a brown leather grip.

Suddenly the Chuunin Leaf ninja realised just how big the person in front of him really was. He was at least a hundred and eighty centimetres tall, probably more, and even though he was neither fat nor particularly muscled he was still incredibly daunting.

"_He's built like a beanstalk"_ Chouji thought to himself.

As the giant ninja turned back Chouji noticed a few other things, his eyes were brown but seemed to fade out at the edges instead of ending in a defined place like a normal iris. His hair was very dark brown and a bit messy, but not spiky. Apart from his height, and maybe his eyes, he seemed pretty normal Chouij considered.

"_Plus, he seems nice enough"_ Chouji decided _"I wonder what the other two are like?"_ he wondered, making his way over.

He tried the girl on the right first "Hi, my name is Chouji" he started "I'll be protecting you until we get to Konoha" he stopped; the girl had fixed him with a look of pure hatred.

"I don't give a shit who you are, and we don't need your protection" she spat. She glared at his forehead protector "I hate Konoha and everyone associated with it, you got it? Don't talk to me again" and with that she jumped off, leaving Chouji in her wake.

He heard movement off to his left; the other girl was facing him. Chouji didn't know what to expect, he was still shocked from the reaction of the first girl.

"_Am I going to get another load of abuse?"_ he thought, bracing himself.

She bowed slightly "Err…I apologise for my sister" she said, as the tall ninja joined the two of them.

Chouji looked worried "Shouldn't we go after her?" he asked.

The second girl shook her head "Don't worry. She will be close, honestly" she assured him.

Chouji nodded "So what was that about?" he enquired her. He felt the temperature drop and noticed she looked uncomfortable; the guy beside her looked worried.

Chouji decided to drop the subject "Er… Actually, don't worry about it" he said quickly, noting that both of them relaxed slightly.

He found himself looking at the girl as he wondered what to say next. She was wearing a loosely fitting copper coloured trench coat which was buttoned up right to the top. Across it were two silver strips running diagonally from shoulder to hip. Her pants were again copper coloured, with another two silver strips running diagonally across them to the ankle, the opposite way to the ones on the coat. Her eyes were green and unlike the guy's they were completely normal. Her hair was normal too, auburn and reaching down just above her shoulders. She seemed to have no weapons at all, at least, that he could see.

His reverie was broken by a male voice to his right. He turned.

"We should probably get going" the Rock shinobi pointed out.

Chouji nodded "Right" he paused "Sho, right?" he got a nod in response "and you're Mihoto?" the girl smiled brightly "and your sister is Eri?" both figures nodded "Okay, let's go then" he decided, before looking worried again "You're sure she'll follow us?" he asked.

The girl stepped up "As soon as we leave she will join us" she said perkily "But I wouldn't talk directly to her if I were you" she advised. Chouji nodded, and leapt into the trees above followed by the two others. Sure enough, as he was about to actually set off, the twin appeared beside her sister. Now that they were next to each other it was again difficult to tell the difference between the two, they even wore the same outfits…

"_Well, I shouldn't have to be able to tell the difference between them we'll be in Konoha soon"_ he thought to himself.

He looked ahead and set off, the other three behind him.

XXXXXXXXXX

She couldn't stop it. Her dreams had been free of this nightmare for so long but now it was back. Images replayed back across her mind again and again. She tried to scream but her voice made no sound, she tried to run but her legs wouldn't move. The dream started again.

She was being held by a man as her team was defeated one by one. Once again she could do nothing and felt the shame of powerlessness, the laughter of the man holding her ringing through her head telling her how she would watch her friends die.

The decision she tried to stop herself making each and every time rang through her mind.

"_I will stop you…"_

She watched, disembodied, as her likeness twisted her arm around and struck the man square in the chest with the palm of her hand. She had felt nothing but grim determination as she had watched the light fade from his eyes.

Her view shifted as the petite figure leapt to the man bending over Shino. Her incorporeal self watching tried to scream again as the man attacked her, knowing what would happen. The kunai he had been holding broke in half as she struck it and his look of surprise turned to pain as she moved behind him and struck him in the back, stopping his heart.

Suddenly two more figures appeared at the noise and threw weapons but her impassive eyes caught every movement and she dodged the attack easily, moving effortlessly next to the closest of the attackers with unnatural speed. She didn't give him enough time to blink, and once again the watching Hinata shuddered within her heart at the lack of expression on her own face as she took another life.

The last man had seen what had happened and knew he was fighting for his life. She saw herself spin round the collapsing man she had just killed and speed off towards the final ninja. He threw more weapons but they were all deflected. An explosive note embedded itself on the ground before her and she leapt sideways, launching herself off a tree as it exploded. Her face never changed from the look of resolve as she approached.

She continued moving towards him and he threw more kunai at the rapidly moving girl. Dispassionately she noticed she had been hit in the leg as she moved next to him, she looked up, he had also drawn out a sword. He stabbed forwards, but as he did so a thick blade of chakra in her palm deflected the weapon. With her other hand she closed all the tenketsus in his sword arm, causing him to drop his weapon. She moved inside his reach, her arm already moving in to strike the final blow.

"Wait…" the ninja choked out, a split second before the blow landed. But it was too late.

"_NOOO!" _The watching Hinata screamed silently as the man fell to his knees, killed instantly by the blow. She watched as the figure below her realised what it had done.

She woke up.

Once again she shuddered in the aftermath of the dream and realised that there were tears on her cheeks. She wiped them away gently, once again locking away the memories as tightly as possible. Suddenly she remembered what had happened, she had been cornered and had collapsed. She looked around quickly and found that she was back in her own room. She sighed with relief and started to get up. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her stomach; she looked under her clothes to find bruises starting to appear on her belly.

"_What happened?"_ she thought to herself. But as she was asking herself this, Hanabi entered the room. Hinata looked up.

Hanabi sat down in front of her sister "Are you ok nee-chan?" she could see the redness in Hinata's eyes and knew she had been crying. There was also a patina of sweat on her brow, obviously whatever she had been dreaming about back then had not been pleasant.

Hinata gave a small smile "I'm fine" she tried to reassure her sister.

"_I can't be a burden to anyone"_ Hinata thought to herself _"I have to get through this on my own, no matter __how__ painful it is…"_

Hanabi leaned forwards "But when Naruto brought you back, he said that you had been attacked…" she tailed off.

Hinata looked shocked "Naruto-kun brought me here?" she was happy that he had rescued her, but once again she had been a burden to someone.

"_I promised myself that those times had ended…"_ she thought sadly.

"Yes" her younger sister nodded "He also said that he was sorry and that he'll meet you the day after tomorrow" Hinata nodded back slowly.

"_He doesn't have anything to be sorry about…"_ she thought.

Hanabi still looked concerned "But about you being attacked…why would someone attack you?" she asked.

Hinata looked into her sisters' eyes, then lowered them and almost imperceptibly shook her head.

"_She doesn't want to talk about it…"_ Hanabi realised.

She decided to just repeat what she had been told "Naruto said that you shouldn't leave here on your own" she paused "I don't know what happened, but he seems worried. Will you please stay here until he comes to meet you?" she requested. Hinata nodded and Hanabi felt relieved.

"At least this means that we can ask father about me entering the Chuunin exam now" she smiled "You still need me, right?"

Hinata looked up "Yes, thank you" she smiled back "You still want to do it?" she asked "I don't want to force you".

Hanabi raised her eyebrows "Of course I want to do it".

"Good. We shall ask father about it tomorrow" she decided.

A male voice made itself heard through the thin doors "Ask me about what tomorrow?" it enquired.

XXXXXXXXXX

So, new people huh? I have actually thought about their inclusion in the plot and their history and stuff so don't worry if you think I've just added in some random charcters for a laugh, they all have a part to play. I've also come up with techniques for them and everything, so I guess whoever gets 100th review could get a sneek peek into their abilities. You have to say that you want it though; I won't give spoilers to those who don't want 'em.

Later.


	12. Clearer Skies

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime. This chapter has been posted slightly later because I went to a wedding at the weekend and then other things, I haven't had much sleep recently...either way, I'm sorry and here it is.

Chapter 12: Clearer Skies

Even though he had left Hinata in the care of her sister and was confident in the knowledge that she would be fine Naruto's mood had not improved. Had the as yet nameless attacker appeared in front of him right then he knew there would be a good chance of serious bloodshed. Naruto cracked his knuckles as he again remembered the figure bending over Hinata, collapsed and defenceless on the floor. He found himself beginning to want the man to step out in front of him.

"_Forget what everyone thinks of me"_ he thought bitterly _"I will __never__ forgive anyone who hurts her"_ he vowed to himself as he walked. Unfortunately his energy had no outlet; there was no-one to beat up or shout at, and little by little Naruto found that the red mist in front of his eyes was lifting as he calmed himself down again. He pushed the thoughts of vengeance back and tried to think.

"_Like I said, I'll go talk to Tsunade baa-chan. She'll be able to help Hinata somehow. I can't catch that bastard alone…"_ he felt slightly ashamed about that for some reason, _"Because…"_ he thought _"…it was my responsibility, I should have been there with her…"_ suddenly there was along drawn out moment where he considered what would have happened if he hadn't made it in time and his heart nearly froze as he considered the worst case scenario.

Lost in his thoughts, he realised he had made it to the front of the Hokage mansion and knew he had taken the right course of action.

"_What would I have achieved if I had gone around the village looking for retribution?"_ he thought sadly, in his rare moment of clarity _"Besides…"_ he reflected _"…what good would it do Hinata now?" _he asked himself_ " She's going to get over that incident her own way, by completing the Chuunin exam perfectly in front of the whole village. I would only do that ambition harm if I got myself arrested. Baa-chan will sort it out"_ he told himself, striding towards the entrance and continuing up the stairs. In his usual style he walked unannounced, straight into the room.

"Tsunade baa-chan! I need to talk to you!" he called out demandingly.

Tsunade looked up from her reading with a frown, she had heard footsteps outside but most people had the decency to knock. However, Naruto wasn't most people.

Shizune stepped forwards "You shouldn't just barge in here Naruto-kun" she complained.

"_Now that's a little hypocritical"_ Tsunade thought to herself as she fixed Naruto with a stare.

"And how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?" she asked.

Though she had gotten more used to it when in private, when there were people around she hated him calling her old. She finally noticed Naruto's expression. He also didn't seem as energetic as normal and had a dark look on his face that silenced her half hearted protest. She looked across at her black haired assistant; it appeared she had noticed too. As Shizune closed the door behind Naruto, Tsunade spoke up.

"What's wrong?" the Hokage asked, placing her hands together and knitting her fingers.

Just by looking at her Naruto knew that she was taking him seriously and that thought was comforting. Though he called her old, was rude, brash and difficult it wasn't because he didn't respect her. It was actually the opposite; he just treated everyone very familiarly and that was just his personality, even though he knew it wasn't always the accepted way of doing things.

"Just now, someone attacked Hinata!" he burst out.

Shizune's eyes widened in shock "What?!" she blurted out in amazement "Is she ok?" she asked as her face moved from surprise to worry.

Naruto found he couldn't look either woman in the eye and sighed "She's fine…" he was about to continue but was interrupted by the Hokage.

"Naruto" she said in an icy calm voice. He looked into her eyes as she continued, but they were expressionless "I need to know exactly what happened". Naruto nodded slowly; the temperature in the room had just dropped several hundred degrees. Both he and Shizune knew that the woman in front of them had just gone straight through the realms of anger and into a state that would chill you straight to the bone if you crossed her now. Konoha ninja attacking fellow Konoha ninja was beyond the pale.

Naruto decided to start from the beginning "Me and Hinata were training most of the day…" he started.

"Why were you with her?" Shizune interrupted. Naruto looked across at Tsunade who gave him a tiny nod that he almost missed.

"She's taking the Chuunin exam with me" he answered "We decided to train together, but she's also helping me study for the first part of the exam" he paused slightly "She's been really helpful…" he murmured to himself.

"Anyway…" he went on "…we had finished for the day and I was hungry so we decided that we would go and eat at Ichiraku's again" he allowed himself the briefest of smiles at the thought before he carried on with his story "But before we went I noticed that we had left weapons all over the place and I needed to pick them up. Hinata volunteered to help, but I told her to go ahead and order me something…" he paused again, this time for longer.

"_Why did I do that? I'm such an idiot, leaving her all alone…"_ for yet another time Naruto found himself imagining worst case scenarios. His trance was broken again by the sound of Shizune's voice.

"And then what happened?" she asked.

His brain took a few seconds to catch up.

"I collected all of the weapons around the field, and then I noticed that she had left her bag behind accidentally. I was going to run and try and get to Ichiraku's before her but when I was just about to take a shortcut I heard a scream" he remembered the feeling he got the moment he heard the voice call out.

Shizune looked at him questioningly "It was Hinata?" she guessed. Naruto nodded again, and then looked over to Tsunade. She hadn't moved the entire time but was obviously taking the whole rendition in. Obviously she was going to wait until he had finished.

Naruto nodded again, to emphasise the point "It was her, I'm practically certain but I didn't know it at the time…I just had a really bad feeling when I heard it so I sprinted to where I thought it came from" he tried to recreate the scene in his head but failed. All he could remember was the figure standing over the unconscious Hinata, a wave of killing intent rise from her attacker then screaming and punching the guy hard in the face. Shizune nodded as he told them what he could remember.

Did you see what he looked like?" she asked tentatively.

He shook his head "No, I never got a good view of his face" he stopped and chuckled a little darkly "But I think I broke his jaw" he added, with an edge of satisfaction in his voice.

"So after he left…" Shizune left the question hang in the air.

"I picked her up and took her back to her house, she wasn't badly hurt…"

"_Though it's bad enough that she __was__ hurt"_ he thought to himself.

"…and I figured she needed to be somewhere safe. Then I came here" he finished, not adding 'after I wandered around looking to kill the bastard who did this'. He watched as Tsunade finally spoke up.

"Can you tell me anything else about the man who attacked her?" she asked, still in a perfectly level tone.

Naruto racked his brains, the short fight finally coming to light.

"He used some sort of concealed wrist knife from within his clothing to get away" he saw her make a note on a piece of paper "Other than his jaw, I don't remember much else. It was a bit of a blur".

"_I was very angry"_ he didn't have to add, she could see it in his eyes. She nodded.

"We will be investigating the matter very closely. Don't worry, we will find the man who did this and when we do…" she tailed off darkly. Naruto was about to speak up when she continued.

"In the meantime I will assign a group of ANBU to keep a watch over Hinata" she saw the look on Naruto's face "Don't worry they will be discreet" she promised. She looked up at Naruto and read him like a book.

"_He needs comforting"_ she thought

She smiled warmly, though inside she was still boiling "Don't worry" she soothed "It really wasn't your fault" beside him Shizune nodded "How were you to know someone would attack her?" she asked rhetorically "You saved her, and that's the end of it, ok?" Tsunade picked up a piece of paper and waved it in front of Naruto. He looked at her questioningly.

"It's her application to the Chuunin exam, Kurenai isn't here so I've approved it in her place" she paused "You need to support Hinata now" she told him.

Naruto looked surprised "So you've heard about the incident with her?" suddenly he realised what a stupid question that was.

"I might not wear the hat, but I am Hokage" she pointed out, trying to inject some humour into the situation. She smiled to herself as Naruto smiled, she had got him relaxed.

"Yes, I know about that and it appears you do too. So you know why she needs support?" she asked. Naruto nodded.

"Good. You did the right thing coming to me; I will make sure the culprit is brought to justice, don't worry about that" she assured him, her voice gaining a steely edge again "You can go now" she added.

As Naruto left he found that he felt even better than he thought he would.

"_This is what it must be like to share your problems with family"_ he thought ambivalently. Even though she wasn't a parent, Tsunade was a motherly/sisterly figure and a good comfort.

"_Do all families do that? Share their problems?"_ he wondered sadly. It was times like these that left him missing the parents he had never known. He envied all of his friends and though they complained about their parents they had no idea about the loneliness of having none. It was one of the things that he had been able to identify with Sasuke over. He tried to shake the feeling, he had to stay positive. He had all of his friends didn't he? Iruka, Tsunade and Jiraya as well, among many others. He smiled.

"_I'm not alone any more…"_ he thought to himself. His thoughts turned full circle back to Hinata _"…and I need to protect those people who saved me from that hell"_ he thought.

XXXXXXXXXX

Back in Tsunade's office the Hokage had finally let her temper loose. First off she had punched straight through her desk to relieve some of the stress. Then she had shouted out orders to the ever obedient Shizune.

"Attempted murder!" she shouted "When I get my hands on this bastard he'll be lucky to walk away with just a broken jaw" she thundered.

Shizune looked at her long time master _"He'll be lucky to __walk away__"_ she thought to herself. There was only one other time she had been this angry, the time she had fought Orochimaru back when they had first met Naruto.

"Check all the hospital records, anyone who was admitted with a broken jaw today I want here" she ordered. Shizune nodded and made a note.

"Make a list of all the ninja who use concealed knives too, he may not have gone for treatment. Also I want an investigative team on this case immediately. Seal off that area. If Naruto hit him that hard he might have left something behind, teeth, blood anything. I want it checked out" Shizune looked up.

"What about Hinata?" she asked.

"An ANBU team will be assigned to watch over Hyuuga Hinata until the Chuunin exam" Shizune nodded again and left the room to pass on the orders.

In the office Tsunade was experiencing thoughts similar to Naruto's earlier ones. Needless to say the man's life would not be worth living.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hinata froze. Looking at Hanabi she saw that her sister was similarly shocked. Though they knew their father was a ninja, after all they had trained with him; it was still a massive shock that he could mask his presence so well. Neither girl had sensed his approach.

"_How much did he hear?"_ both of them thought. They realised in the same instant that unfortunately he didn't have to have heard much to already know the answer to his question. The two sisters turned as the screen door slid open, revealing the commanding presence of their father. Hinata got up; after waking from her nightmare her body seemed to have stopped trembling and the cold that had gripped her heart seemed to have warmed from the reassurances of her sister.

"Would you like some tea father?" she asked, trying to stall him.

"No thank you" he replied politely "What is it that you both wish to speak to me about?" he shifted his gaze to Hanabi. Both of them realised that they couldn't skip around the truth or, even worse, lie. Hinata took a small breath.

"I have entered the Chuunin exam again father" she said quickly, before pausing "But…I have only one team mate and both of us needed another so that we could become a legitimate team" she stopped, to think of how to put what she would say next but Hiashi got there first.

"You have asked Hanabi to join your team" it wasn't a question, rather than a statement.

Hanabi decided that she should make herself part of the discussion.

"Yes father, nee-chan asked me to take the exam with her" the man stayed silent so she continued "I really think I can do it. Yours and Neji-nii-san's training has really helped me and you said yourself that no-one else in my age group is near my standard. This is the best way forward" she stopped, having run out of things to say. There was a moment of silence and both Hinata and Hanabi waited with baited breath. Hiashi turned to Hinata.

"Who is the other team mate?" he asked simply. Hanabi's heart soared.

"_He is considering it!"_ she thought excitedly.

Hinata was a little more apprehensive, she didn't know what her father would think of Naruto as a team mate for both of his daughters. He knew about her ninja academy days and the fact that the blonde had been one of the stragglers in her class all those years ago having heard about the disruption he caused and the pranks he pulled. Hinata knew his good points and how much he had improved since then but she didn't know what her father would think.

"_Will father accept him?"_ she thought worriedly. She realised the pause had gone on for too long. She would have to tell the truth, it wasn't in her nature to lie anyway.

"Err…" she cursed herself silently, she knew her father hated her pauses "…Uzumaki Naruto is our other team mate" she informed him. She saw her father's eyes narrow slightly.

"He really is an excellent ninja father, on the last mission he was a part of he helped rescue the Kazekage. He's also been trained by one of the legendary Sannin" she didn't care if she sounded too defensive. She saw her father rise and she felt a brief wave of panic.

"_Is he just going to reject it out of hand?"_ she thought desperately.

"I will take a look at his mission history and speak with Tsunade-sama" he informed his daughters "Then I will make my decision. Continue your training in the meantime" he ordered calmly. Both girls nodded obediently as he left the room and slid the door back behind him. Hanabi gave a little sigh beside her sister.

"I didn't expect him to sneak up on us like that" she admitted. Hinata nodded her agreement.

"Will he accept me entering though?" Hanabi asked.

Hinata sighed slightly glad that the tension had gone "I think so. If he talks to Tsunade-sama she will convince him Naruto is the right person. I don't think he has a problem with your entry" she thought aloud.

"Even so…" said Hanabi, sounding relieved "…I should continue training" she echoed her father's words.

"I should too" Hinata agreed "I will meet Naruto as normal and we will wait for fathers' decision" she looked at her younger sister.

"Right" Hanabi concurred.

Hinata smiled. It was all going to be all right.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ah…finally. I guess you're thinking that too huh? Sorry bout the wait, part of it was cos I didn't have the right music to listen to. Sounds odd but it's true. Everything's about to get more dramatic though, or at least that's the plan. I'm hoping to get the next chapter up after the normal space of time, a coupla days ish. On a side note, Hinata's first appearance in Shippuuden tomorrow night! Can't wait myself. Anyway…

Later.


	13. Ambush!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime. For those of you who are asking when Naruto will tell Hinata about the Kyuubi I think it's far too big of a plot twist to throw away cheaply. However they are going to have a whole exam together. I won't say more than that, hope none of you have a heart condition. Funnily enough I do but that doesn't really matter cos I know what's gonna happen, hehe.

Chapter 13: Ambush!

Above the green, leafy foliage of the forest the sky was a brilliant blue colour and dappled light made its way in small silvers through the trees onto the cool ground below. This was always the best time to travel in the day; you could see through the trees clearly, the shade of the trees meant it was cool but the sun in the sky ensured that it was never cold. If the weather was hotter the trees dried out and branches became more prone to snapping. If it was colder, or wetter, then branches became more slippery. Chouji grinned.

"_We're going at a nice easy pace too…"_ he thought, taking a look behind at the three ninja following him. His gaze centred on Mihoto, and realised that this time he had been able to tell the two girls apart.

"_In fact, it isn't really that hard"_ he reflected. Eri's face seemed to be set in a semi-permanent scowl whereas her twins' expression was far more pleasant. Chouji racked his brains; he hadn't actually seen Mihoto look annoyed or angry over the past four days.

"_Have we been travelling that long?"_ he asked himself in amazement _"The exam starts tomorrow!"_ he realised; though they were now within a day's travel of Konoha, even at the pace they had been going. He briefly wondered if the other rock ninja would be able to make it in time, before seeing Sho waving his right hand indicating another stop. He nodded in recognition and leapt back in the opposite direction off the next branch.

As he rejoined the group he noticed Mihoto was once again sitting down and resting against a tree. Eri was right by her side and Sho was on another tree a little way away. He decided to join the guy, ever since Eri's outburst he felt it best to take her sister's advice and not directly engage her. He had got a number of dark looks from her over the past few days though and whatever it was that was bugging her always seemed to be just under the surface.

He got a small nod of acknowledgement as he joined the towering rock ninja and he smiled back before looking at the two sisters. Eri seemed to be fussing over her sister and Chouji noticed that the only times that he had ever seen Eri looking anything other than annoyed or angry was when she was with Mihoto. Right now, as Chouji watched her offer her sister some water she actually had a concerned look on her face. He turned to Sho, who was now also sitting down.

"What's the deal with Eri?" he asked "I know you didn't want to talk about it earlier but…" he trailed off.

The sitting ninja sighed "If you're wondering if Eri is only like that to you, you're wrong" he smiled, knowing he was avoiding the question "She acts like that to everyone else just to a greater or lesser degree, including me and I've known them both for their whole lives" his smile turned to a grimace "Like she pointed out though, Eri does have an especial loathing for Konoha" he shrugged.

Once again Chouji found himself wondering about that.

"There is one exception though" Sho added, breaking the silence.

"What's that?" Chouji felt like he'd never get to the bottom of the reason for Eri's hatred of Konoha, especially with everyone avoiding his questions.

He saw the nod towards Mihoto "She's the only one Eri will show any sort of affection for" and Chouji watched as Mihoto finished drinking and passed the bottle back, which Eri took with an uncharacteristically warm smile.

"Yeah… actually I noticed that too. Why is that?" he asked quizzically.

The dark haired ninja tilted his head back in thought "I guess… well, one of the reasons is Mihoto isn't very strong physically" he said "You've probably noticed each one of the stops we've made so far is so that she can rest, right?" he looked up from his sitting position at Chouji.

"Uh-huh" Chouji nodded.

"_One of the reasons…?"_ he thought.

"Well, this is after training" he explained "When she was young she was always really physically weak, her stamina was very poor and she could only do a few things every day or she would be completely exhausted".

"Oh" was all Chouji could think to say.

"_How did she become a ninja?"_ was a thought he was too tactful to bring up.

"_It wasn't a very kind thought" _he realised, chiding himself before concentrating back on the conversation again.

"So Eri ended up helping her all the time, getting her food, walking with her to classes, carrying things" Sho smiled again "They're very close. Even now Eri sees it as her duty to protect her sister, from everything" he finished.

Chouji frowned "What about their parents? Couldn't they help?" he enquired.

Sho's usually calm face seemed to darken slightly; Chouji couldn't tell whether it was sadness or anger "Parents can't be there all the time…" he said quietly. Chouji decided to drop that subject pretty quickly.

"You seem to know them really well" he said, changing tack.

Sho shrugged again, still a slight edge in his voice "Yeah, well like I said, I've known them their whole lives so they're both good friends" he sighed again "Of course, Mihoto's easier to get on with but at least I'm kept on my toes with Eri" he reasoned, now smiling slightly. Chouji nodded. Ino was a little like that too sometimes. He noticed that they had been joined on their tree.

It was Eri "Hey, get up off your ass" she looked darkly at Sho through her dark green eyes, not even acknowledging Chouji "Lazy idiot. You know, if you weren't so idle you could have passed the exam already and we wouldn't be stuck with you as a team mate".

Sho rolled his eyes as the tirade continued.

"You're two years older than us for a start and…" she went on as he got to his feet and gave Chouji a harassed look.

"Yeah, yeah" he interrupted "Are we ready to go?" he asked as Eri was joined by her twin.

"I'm fine now thanks" Mihoto smiled, and then turned to her sister "But you shouldn't insult him like that nee-chan" she chided "I'm glad you're with us for this" she told her male team mate, blushing slightly. Eri made a little noise of derision in the back of her throat and muttered something that sounded like 'well I'm not…'

He gave her a theatrical smile "Thanks" he said gratefully. He turned to Chouji and was just about to open his mouth when the 'big boned' Leaf-nin held his hand up.

"Someone's coming" he warned the three of them. Eri leapt in front of Mihoto and threw a kunai before Chouji could stop her.

"It's an ambush!" she called out as a blast shook the trees.

XXXXXXXXXX

She had managed to avoid him for the entire trip by going out in front with the faster Genin but the trip had still taken the four days planned.

"_At least we're close to Konoha now, and I can get this all sorted out"_ Temari thought to herself _"If I can get there first and talk to that Ino girl…I can figure out all these mixed messages I've been getting"_ she decided.

"We're picking up the pace" she called out to the Genin behind her. This got a few cries of protest but she ignored them, they'd have ample time to rest when they got there. Her thoughts went back to the lazy ass behind her with the slower Genin.

"_No matter how many times I think about it, all the signs he was giving were saying he was interested in me…"_ she had been thinking about this _"Come to think about it… what he says and what he does are normally two different things. He says 'troublesome' about stuff but he always goes and does it anyway. Maybe this is another case of him saying one thing and meaning another"_ she had thought. In fact once she had got over the initial shock she had applied her usual calm rationality and determination to the situation and decided what to do. Though the fact he had the power to shock her annoyed Temari greatly. However the most annoying thing at the moment was the fact that even though she had decided what she was doing she still couldn't stop thinking about it. She sped up again, almost leaving behind the Genin behind her.

Suddenly she realised that her senses had been trying to tell her something for a while. She concentrated.

"_There are people up ahead!"_ she realised as she burst through a piece of thick foliage. She turned and slowed to warn the Genin behind her but suddenly felt a wave of killing intent from in front.

She dodged the kunai that had been thrown, which thudded into a branch and reached behind her back to retrieve her fan. In one swift movement she swept it off and back flipped towards her assailants, dodging the blast of the explosion. Moments later her Genin arrived. She swung her fan in a broad arc towards the area the kunai had come from. Instantly the trees in the way were gouged and cut by chakra-infused wind.

"_That should at least slow them down"_ she thought in satisfaction _"And it's a good signal to everyone behind"_ her eyes narrowed. She could sense whoever they were still getting closer. She hoisted her fan up again and gave it another swing. She blanched in surprise as a figure seemed to be flying forward through the wind, with no adverse effects at all. As the figure got closer she realised it, was a he, and he was a giant.

"Down there!" one of the Genin called in alarm. Temari turned to see earth moving up from the ground in a mound, which was swiftly approaching them. The wind was cutting into the earth, but not enough to break through. As her attack died down, the top of the mound exploded open, to reveal two girls with brown hair and green eyes. As Temari was about to make her third attack two of the three Sand Genin with her threw themselves down at the rising girls.

"Wait!" Temari called. Suddenly she realised that she had almost forgotten about the other attacker and turned back, throwing her arm across the last Genin to stop him from moving and swinging her fan in the same movement. Her eyes widened in shock as the ninja leapt off another tree and moved straight towards them even as the attack was about to hit. Once again it did nothing.

"He's too close…!" she shouted to herself, pulling the Genin with her down and away from the approaching attacker. She stole a brief look at the fight between the other four. One Sand Genin had thrown a bunch of weapons at the girls, but this had been countered by one of them pulling earth up from the ground and blocking all the attacks. She looked back; her attention couldn't be pulled away for too long.

"_Where's he gone?"_ she wondered worriedly.

XXXXXXXXXX

Eri looked back at her sister as the attacks hit her wall of rock and earth, the weapons throwing up dirt around the areas they hit.

"I've got them both covered. Attack them!" she called back.

Mihoto nodded and leapt over the wall, closely followed by her sister. The two ninja in front of them threw more weapons, and jumped backwards trying to put distance between them all. Eri pushed her hands into the floor and earth exploded up out of the ground. Kunai thudded into the risen earth and various barbed ropes wrapped themselves around it too, stopping in front of the twins before the earth dropped back down in piles.

As her sister defended her, Mihoto jumped forward again and landed directly between the two Sand ninja, readying her attack.

XXXXXXXXXX

"There!" the Genin next to her called, answering the question she hadn't raised aloud. Sure enough there he was, and now Temari could see from his headband that he was a rock ninja. She swung her fan again releasing her wind attack, only this time she let loose the needles concealed within the folds of her fan. Guided by the wind they would hit all of the areas the wind couldn't and with poisoned barbs, leaving him no hiding place even behind the trunks of the trees.

"_If he's been hiding and using a clone of some sort, this will bring him right out"_ she thought _"Or kill him"_ she reflected dispassionately.

She watched as again the attacker moved straight through her attack, and in the exact same way, continued straight towards them completely unperturbed. She had hit nothing! He was now too close for another wind attack, she knew, and she could now see the colour of his eyes; a kind of unnerving translucent brown.

"Don't move!" she ordered the boy beside her.

She turned her fan side on and swung it upwards viciously with both hands, using the razor sharp edge of the fan to attack. To her shock he continued moving straight through the fan and at the Genin beside her. The much smaller Genin ducked under the first blow from the hammer the ninja was wielding and Temari felt the passing of the blow.

"_He's definitely real…"_ she thought quickly, not understanding the situation at all. She changed her hand position on her fan and followed through with her attack, gracefully twisting all the way around. She attempted to cut him down from shoulder to hip but once again the fan passed straight through him.

Her breath caught and she watched helplessly as the giant ninja kicked away the Sand Genin's standing leg with one of his own huge ones and drew a kunai with his left hand in a fluid movement. His arm extended in slow motion about to release the kunai into the Genin's chest. She closed her eyes, unable to watch.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade stepped back "There" she said simply, before letting out a long drawn out sigh "That's the lot finished" she smiled at the Kunoichi opposite her.

Ino smiled back "Thanks for letting me watch Tsunade-sama" she thanked the Hokage.

The older blonde raised her eyebrows "What?" she demanded "Do you think I'm softening up? This is training, you need to see how it's done" she explained half serious half jokingly.

"Hai Tsunade-sama" Ino stood to attention quickly. Her expression turned to worry "But do you really think I'll be able to do this sort of thing?" she asked.

Tsunade shrugged "I wouldn't have you in here if I didn't" she gave a warm smile "You won't be able to do it right away but don't worry, if you put forth the effort then you will be able to do it eventually. Like I said this is a teaching exercise" she reiterated.

"Part of the job of a hospital is to teach and that's also one of the reasons I assigned you here. You'll get good experience, ok?" Ino nodded.

"Good" the Hokage continued "Now, there's someone outside who I think will want to come back in" she nodded towards the door.

Ino eyes widened "Oh, right" she muttered, heading towards the door with a smile.

Tenten looked up as the door was slid open. Ino's smiling face was revealed.

"You can come in now" she said, beckoning "Tsunade-sama has finished".

Tenten gave a sigh and looked up "Thank you" she breathed, to no-one in particular. She realised it must have sounded a little rude and gave Ino a smile "Thanks" she said brightly and joined the two blonde's in the room with her team mate.

Tsunade was in the process of awakening Neji. She stood back as Tenten took her usual place on the stool by Neji's bed and took up his hand with no sign of embarrassment. Ino and Tsunade exchanged glances, which said far more than words ever could. They had obviously grown closer…

They all watched as Neji stirred. Tenten felt his hand twitch and Ino saw his eyelids flicker. Tsunade was able to read even more subtle signs indicating his state, but then that was to be expected of the world renowned medical expert.

Once again Neji found himself waking up in the hospital room that had become his temporary home for the past week and a bit. He could feel Tenten's surprisingly soft hand on his before he even opened his eyes and he instantly felt comfortable. He opened his eyes slowly.

"_It's still the beginning of the afternoon"_ he thought _"This one can't have taken long"_ he surmised. He looked up at the three Kunoichi above him. Ino, who always seemed to be present, was giving him a smile. Tsunade had a look of satisfaction and Tenten still looked worried.

"Are you alright? How are you feeling?" she asked.

Neji took a breath "Good" he said simply.

"Only good?" the brown haired girl asked worriedly.

"It doesn't hurt to breathe anymore. It's hard to put into words what it feels like when pain that has been there for a while is gone" he said by way of explanation.

Tenten tried to understand "Oh, ok" she said lamely.

"When will I be able to get back to full fitness?" he asked the Hokage.

She smiled "I had a feeling you would ask me that" she sighed

"Unfortunately, it might take a little while" she explained "Your internal organs are sensitive things" she paused "Actually, you should know how sensitive they can be, being part of the Hyuuga clan" Neji nodded silently.

"I did the best I could" she continued "But your lungs will still be a little inflamed for a while. I may not hurt, but you won't have your full lung capacity for about a week, maybe two" she warned.

"You have probably also noticed you feel weaker" she continued, and Neji nodded again "Obviously this is because of your injuries and the fact that you have been bed ridden and slightly oxygen starved for just over a week. You will find your muscles ache and are quite stiff" she told him.

"What about training?" he quizzed.

Tsunade rolled her eyes "Light training only to start with, if you damage yourself again I'll…" she thought of a suitable punishment. Her gaze landed on Ino.

"I'll have you as living training for this bright little student here" she grinned, patting Ino on the shoulder. This was met with shock from everyone, including Ino.

"I thought you said I wasn't ready yet" she murmured. Tsunade shrugged, and Ino wasn't entirely sure if she was joking.

Neji seemed to recover "When can I leave?" he enquired.

Tsunade smiled "Right now, if you want. I'm sure you're sick of being stuck in here" Neji gave a small smile.

"One thing though" Tsunade warned "I want you in here every day for a check up, if I find you've been pushing too hard…" she tailed off darkly "Understand?" she asked. He nodded.

"Good" she made as if to leave, then stopped suddenly.

"Oh and by the way, you and Tenten will both be supervising the Chuunin exams tomorrow" she told them "Ino, you already know about your involvement right?" Ino nodded obediently.

"Ok then, just thought I should mention it. I thought since you'll have free time…" she looked at Neji's expression "Consider it a mission" she said breezily with a smile. She left. Ino followed her; she knew exactly when she was a third wheel.

Tenten and Neji were left looking a little surprised.

XXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 13 done, unlucky for some. Actually speaking of luck, it's just my luck that I get excited about the next Shippuuden episode and then… well I guess you know. I was annoyed, though it's my fault for not looking at the schedule. Enough ranting, I did re-find Jackie Chan adventures on the net so that's a plus. Used to watch it when I was younger, such great memories. Lastly, the next few reviews will take this fic to one hundred reviews. I should remind you, if you are the 100th reviewer then I will give out some spoilers, if you want them of course.

Later.


	14. Close Calls

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime. Dragon Man 180, if you want some spoilers, or just some information I've been keeping on this story then let me know. I'll answer pretty much any question. It's a reward for posting my 100th review. Congrats. Hinata! She's finally back! I was angry last week… grr. Hehe. Anyway…

Chapter 14: Close Calls

Since the attack on Hinata, Naruto had found to his surprise that their relationship had gone back to normal pretty quickly. He was burying his feelings about the incident the way he always did; by being as energetic, loud and cheerful as he could be.

"_Training helps too"_ he thought to himself _"It's a good outlet"_ and he really needed an outlet. Though Tsunade had told him it was all under control and had praised him for not losing it he still couldn't get the idea of going after Hinata's attacker out of his mind. On top of that he found himself really wanting to protect Hinata, and he found it hard to leave her side unless he knew she would be totally safe.

"_Which is stupid"_ he knew _"I can't protect her all the time and there are four ANBU looking out for her, even when I'm here"_ he told himself _"Why do I want to protect her so badly?_ W_here are these feelings coming from?"_ he asked himself. He enjoyed spending time with her though, despite even the occasional perverted thought he would have courtesy of Jiraiya.

"_I don't __just__ enjoy spending time with her either; she's taught me a lot"_ he said to himself _"She's really clever, and strong" _he thought happily, glad he had found such a good team mate. He still didn't know what her outlet was though. After the incident she had gone completely back to normal, as if nothing had happened.

"_She should be angry or upset or something…"_ not that he wanted her to be of course but he sensed something was wrong, that she was hiding something.

"_No…I know something's wrong"_ he thought _"But how do I bring it up?"_ he wondered desperately. He watched the indigo haired girl in the middle of the practice ground as she moved gracefully around the training dummies, striking each as she passed. He smiled; she always looked like she was dancing, even when she was fighting. It pained him that people could think so badly of a person who was not only a strong ninja but also an innocent, helpful and caring person.

Over on the other side of the field Hinata was finishing the last of her practices.

"_I've got to be strong enough for Naruto-kun"_ she thought determinedly. Though she was confident about the written test she was still worried about the parts of the exam after that.

"_I __can't__ let him down. Or myself… I will prove to everyone that I am not a failure"_ she thought as she came to rest. With the last thought she found she was looking at Naruto. And he was looking at her. She blushed slightly, walking over to where he was sitting against a tree, cross-legged as usual. Under the tree it was a bit cooler and a little shaded, Hinata wiped her brow.

He smiled up at her "Hey!" he said enthusiastically, by way of greeting.

She gave a small smile back, the pink tint still on her cheeks "Hey" she replied softly. She looked down at the book in his lap and the papers around him.

"Ano…Naruto-kun, h-have you done anymore w-work since I left?" She asked, looking reproached.

Naruto continued smiling but scratched the back of his head nervously "I kinda got distracted" he admitted bashfully.

Hinata sat down next to him, folding her legs underneath her "I-I know this is a bit dull for you sometimes, b-but you are doing well" she encouraged him.

"_He actually picks up things really quickly"_ she thought proudly _"He does get distracted…"_ she smiled to herself _"…but he isn't stupid"_ she knew.

Naruto shrugged slightly "Yeah! Thanks" he grinned "I'm not as good as you though" he admitted with a laugh.

Hinata smiled back "B-But I'm not so good in combat…" she said slowly. Naruto frowned and thought back to Shino's story of how she saved team eight. .

"That's not true Hinata" he said forcefully, managing to stop himself from blurting out that he knew about that incident. She looked surprised as he continued

"The technique you showed me that time was awesome" he enthused "They had to completely replace the wooden logs, remember?" she nodded and he smiled.

"And I watch you while you train…" she gave him a slightly accusing look while she blushed "Just for short breaks!" he defended himself, wondering why he felt embarrassed "And you're really good" he assured her.

"A-Arigato Naruto-kun" she thanked him.

He smiled again "There's nothing to thank me for, it's the truth" he placed his hand on her knee and looked into her eyes "I don't want to hear you say you're not strong enough or clever enough again, you're perfect, ok?" he told her.

But Hinata barely heard the words. Her heart was beating powerfully in her chest and she was getting lost in his eyes. Her cheeks were burning; but she couldn't even worry what colour they were. The physical contact along with the words of encouragement from her idol had sent her into a blissful state.

"_Naruto-kun has his hand on my knee…"_ and _"Perfect…?"_ was about all she was able to think, along with _"Thank you Naruto-kun"_.

Opposite her, waiting for her response, Naruto felt himself focusing on her features. The faint hint of lavender in her eyes and the cute blush on her cheeks were distracting enough; but he froze inhaling her heady scent, released as her hair shifted from where it had been partially tucked behind her ear, dropping down in a dark cascade.

As they stared at each other the moment between the two seemed to last forever and the electricity in the air was palpable.

Finally the blushing Hinata nodded tentatively, and the tension was released slightly. Naruto looked down and realised he still had his hand on Hinata's knee. For a split second he wondered what would happen if he moved it up her leg and leaned closer.

"_AH! Perverted thought!"_ he screamed within the confines of his head, before snatching his hand away and pushing back the thoughts.

"T-Thank you Naruto-kun" Hinata managed, her blush not diminishing at all. There was an awkward silence in the enveloping warmth of the moment.

Naruto laughed nervously "Y'know, Sakura-chan would've hit me by now" he joked. He looked back at Hinata. Suddenly the warm atmosphere seemed to disappear and the temperature dropped, though Hinata's expression didn't change.

"Yeah…" she agreed quietly, standing up again and moving so her back was to him.

"W-We should p-probably go back n-now. Father s-should have made his d-decision" she stammered, cursing herself for it.

"_Huh?"_ Naruto thought, unaware of the turmoil he had created within the girl.

"_It's always about Sakura…" _Hinata thought sadly. Now the moment before had been tainted and her thoughts moved back onto more negative wanderings.

"_He likes her because she's so confident and bright, she speaks her mind…she's everything I'm not…"_ her heart trembled at the thought, but she tried not to let it show on the outside. Behind her, Naruto was loudly gathering the books and papers from around himself.

Suddenly she remembered what he had actually said.

"_Perfect…" _she recalled, allowing herself a little smile. She sighed.

"_I will prove myself to you in this exam Naruto-kun, I promise"_ she thought, with a look of determination on her face _"And hopefully you will then see me in the same light as Sakura"_ she prayed.

Naruto finished collecting the last of the study material.

"Shall we go?" he asked, getting up. Hinata only nodded. As they set off Naruto wondered what had happened.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Looks like I got here just in time, huh?" Temari's eyes snapped open and she looked around wildly to find the source of the voice. She noticed the fight between the other four Genin had stopped as well, dark shadows linking all of them together. She looked at the ninja in front of her; he had a dark line connected to his shadow too.

"Geez, this is why women are so troublesome" Shikamaru moaned "Always getting heated up so fast" he looked at the blonde Sand girl, she had finally found him. He gave her a lazy wave, causing Sho next to her to drop his kunai and wave at thin air. The Sand Genin in front of the tall boy finally breathed again, though his eyes were wide and he still looked as if he could crap himself. He fell to a sitting position on the floor.

Temari hefted her fan up again to take advantage of the Rock ninja's incapacitation, swinging her fan down. It got to within an inch of her intended target before she too felt herself frozen. She glanced down; another shadow had split off and was attached to hers.

"What are you doing?" Shikamaru sighed lazily.

"He attacked us!" she shouted up to him.

He sighed again "Maybe they assumed you were ambushing them?" he stated, sounding bored "You were charging at full speed straight at them. How close were you before you sensed their presence?" he asked.

"Hey!" Temari managed before she was cut off.

Shikamaru pointed to the tree next to him "There are marks here, indicating that someone passed here recently" he called "There are others further back. They are here on purpose, and you missed them" he pointed out. There was a noise behind him. He turned.

Chouji appeared beside Shikamaru "What happened?" he asked "I heard fighting, but I couldn't get close there was some sort of wind technique that kept me back" he explained.

Shikamaru smiled "It's all under control" he assured his friend, and Chouji looked relieved.

"Ok everyone!" Shikamaru called "We're all going to Konoha for the Chuunin exam, this is just a misunderstanding" he explained.

Temari grimaced _"I was so distracted I missed such obvious things?"_ she asked herself in annoyed amazement. She looked at the Rock ninja in front of her. To her surprise, he was smiling.

"No hard feelings?" he asked cheerfully. Temari gave no answer, though she noticed his eyes were now back to a normal brown colour and not almost see-through. She frowned.

"Let us go you stupid Konoha bastard!" an angry voice rang out. Shikamaru looked around.

"Another woman" he groaned to Chouji "The fighting's stopped!" he called out again "It's technically an act of war to attack another country's ninja outside of an exam, do you want to start a war?" he asked.

Eri scowled "Just let us go dumbass!" she shouted back. Shikamaru sighed as he released the technique. He looked at Chouji and nodded his head at the girl.

"She's with you right? What's with her?" he asked looking more closely as the two twins and the giant reconvened.

Chouji shrugged "I dunno about her, but the other two seem ok" he told his friend.

"They're Rock ninja?" Shikamaru stated.

Chouji nodded "Yeah, from Iwagakure" he replied, trying to show he knew something too.

"Ohh…" Shikamaru drawled, seemingly realising something.

Chouji gave his best friend a look "What?" he asked.

Shikamaru shrugged lazily "I'll tell ya later, we've got to get moving again" he jumped away towards Temari and the Sand Genin they were both responsible for.

Temari was checking her Genin for any injuries but her mind was in overdrive.

"_How did I miss those signs? Was I __that__ worked up over… __him__?"_ she asked herself angrily. But that wasn't all, the tall Rock ninja she had fought was also bothering her.

"_What was the deal with him?"_ she wondered _"All my attacks did absolutely nothing to him. And it turns out he's a __Genin__"_ she fumed.

"_Although…"_ she thought to herself, _"…he looks around my age and with techniques like that surely he should be higher than Genin by now"_ she breathed out raggedly, it was a mystery. Today had not been a good day. She felt a presence move next to her.

"_And it only gets worse"_ she moaned inwardly.

"Hey there" Shikamaru nodded to her "Looks like I saved your ass" he observed nonchalantly, with a half smile "Though…" he went on "…you must have had your hands full with that Genin" he finished dryly, now smirking.

Temari gave him a dark look "Shut. Up" she said simply. Shikamaru shrugged.

"You take the Genin who weren't involved ahead, I'll wait here with the others" he told her.

She gave him the world's best fake smile "Your laziness is so endearing" she answered him, each word dripping with sarcasm. He gave her a smart guy look before sitting down and Temari repressed the urge to attack him.

"Don't pull an ass muscle sitting down will you" she muttered darkly before leaping away with the ninja he had been leading earlier. He smiled; he liked her attitude, even if it did make her troublesome.

Meanwhile, about twenty meters away Chouji had made his way over to the Rock ninja. He got a nodded greeting from two out of the three of them.

"Is anyone hurt?" he asked, concerned.

"No, and a fat lot of good you were" Eri sneered and quickly Mihoto tried to quieten her down, seeing the look on Chouji's face. Fortunately Chouji had learned to improve his self control when that word was used in his presence and so he managed to stay calm. Next to him Sho made a few conciliatory gestures, basically asking him to ignore her. Chouji nodded and sighed.

"Konoha is only a few more miles now" he announced "Since we will be following the Sand ninja, the most likely area of attack is now the rear so I will be going at the back" he told them. Mihoto and Sho nodded, and Eri ignored him completely.

"We're setting off in that direction" he pointed. Sho jumped off ahead, followed by Mihoto who was closely followed by Eri. Just as Chouji was about to follow he noticed Shikamaru by him.

The famously lazy Chuunin waved a hand behind him "We're all going now, d'you want to go with us?" he asked. Chouji smiled, this was what he had been missing with Lee and Shino. He hadn't exactly got much warmth from the Rock ninja either.

"Sure" he agreed happily as Shikamaru signalled for the remaining Sand ninja to move ahead of them. They both set off as the Genin passed and Shikamaru turned to Chouji.

"You wanted to know what I was thinking earlier?" he asked. His best friend gave him a nod.

"I think I know why that girl was so angry at me, has she had a go at you too?" Chouji nodded again.

Shikamaru gave a knowing smile "I thought so…" he cocked his head, remembering the story "During the Third Great Shinobi War there was a war between Konoha and Iwagakure" he explained. Chouji's eyes widened, and Shikamaru continued.

"Dad forces me to learn all this stuff" he complained, shrugging at Chouji "Anyway, during the war a lot of ninja were killed" he went on "But this was during the time the Fourth was still alive, though he wasn't Hokage then. He managed to stop an entire army of Rock ninja almost single handedly" he looked at Chouji's shocked expression.

"He was the man who stopped the Nine-tails" Shikamaru reasoned "Anyway that's one of the reasons Konoha isn't an ally of Iwagakure, and that's probably the reason that girl-"

"Eri" Chouji interjected.

Shikamaru shrugged again "-hates Konoha and Konoha ninja so much. I wouldn't be surprised if most Rock ninja felt that way" he finished.

Chouji was still surprised, but then a thought hit him "Hold on, if that's the case then it's really more surprising that Mihoto and Sho are alright" he thought out loud. Shikamaru nodded.

"That's what I was thinking too" he admitted "Well, we don't have to worry about it now, they'll be at the Chuunin exam soon and then it won't be our problem" he said, adopting his usual attitude. But there was one thing still worrying him.

"_How did that Rock ninja get past Temari?"_ he wondered. He had joked about it earlier, he knew, but he also knew that it was no mean feat getting past her.

"_He really __is__ above Genin standard"_ he realised _"I wonder what the rest of that team is like…"_ he thought.

With those thoughts in mind Shikamaru and Chouji continued towards Konoha.

XXXXXXXXXX

To Naruto, the journey from the training ground to the Hyuuga compound seemed to take longer than usual. Maybe it was because Hinata was quieter, and he couldn't for the life of him work out why. He did have guesses though.

"_Maybe she's worried about that attack?"_ he thought _"Or the exam…"_ he had a brief moment of insight _"…maybe she's worried about what her father will say. That's got to be it, she's been quieter since she mentioned that"_ he smiled.

"Don't worry Hinata, your father will allow Hanabi to enter the exam" he assured her confidently.

She gave him a small smile back, but that wasn't why she was upset. She was still unable to stop thinking about earlier.

"_I thought we had a moment…"_ she thought _"…but he was thinking about Sakura"_ she tried to shake herself and put aside her hurt feelings, but it was hard.

Beside her Naruto smiled back _"I knew that's why she was upset, she's nervous"_ he told himself, wrongly. He looked from the girl beside him; they had made it to the entrance of the Hyuuga residence.

Naruto turned back to Hinata "Is it okay for me to come in here?" he asked tentatively. The size of the place was still intimidating, especially when compared to the place he lived. He also knew the Hyuugas title of 'Konoha's noble family' and wasn't sure he would be accepted in. He didn't want to create any trouble especially if it affected Hiashi's decision.

Hinata found some determination "O-Of course Naruto-kun" she smiled at him. To her, it was hard to stay depressed around him for long. Especially when he was like this.

"_It's rare to see him nervous" _she thought_ "It's cute"_ she blushed slightly.

"B-Besides…" she added "W-We're both on a team together, and Kiba-kun and Shino-kun have b-both come here" she told him. He nodded and they both entered. As they did so, a screen slid open and they were both greeted by a nervous Hanabi.

The small girl bowed slightly "Konnichiwa" she looked up, still obviously nervous.

"What's wrong?" Hinata asked, concerned.

"Father says he has made his decision…" her younger sister told her "…and he's been waiting for you to return". The tension seemed to rise as both Naruto and Hinata realised what this could mean.

"Let's go Hinata" said Naruto enthusiastically, taking her hand and pulling her forward in his rush to find out what the decision was. He got about ten meters before realising he hadn't got a clue where to go. He let go of Hinata's hand.

"Er…where is your father waiting?" he asked with a grin. Hinata was still surprised and Hanabi decided to take over, rolling her eyes slightly.

"It's this way" she gestured, and Naruto decided to let the younger girl lead. He motioned to Hinata to follow; she seemed to break out of her reverie and joined the other two.

Now he was inside Naruto was if anything even more impressed by the size and grandeur of Hinata's home. His widened eyes took in the pure white walls and intricately carved wood, the bushes and trees neatly trimmed and he thought he could hear running water somewhere. And he hadn't even seen inside. He looked at the girl beside him.

"_And she'll inherit it all…"_ he thought in amazement.

Next to him Hinata couldn't help but notice Naruto's astonishment at her home.

"_It's embarrassing"_ she thought, blushing.

Naruto noticed that Hanabi had stopped in front of a screen. He and Hinata stopped behind her.

"Father" Hanabi called from behind the closed screen "Hinata has returned" she told him simply.

A voice emanated from within "You may enter".

Hanabi slid the door open and bowed. Hinata followed, with an awkward Naruto in tow. She bowed too. Naruto didn't know what to do.

"_Should I bow?"_ he asked himself "_I've got no idea about these things". _He decided to copy Hinata and bowed slightly as well, hoping that he wasn't offending anyone.

As she raised her head Hinata saw her father looking at Naruto.

"_I hope father doesn't mind"_ she thought. She looked at Naruto and suppressed a laugh.

"_He looks silly when he's trying to be serious"_ she realised. She tugged gently on his jacket and motioned for him to sit down with them. Naruto gave her a smile, glad of the fact she was helping him out of his awkwardness.

There was a moment of silence, which Naruto took to look around the room they were in. The walls were a clean white, and sparsely but elegantly decorated with a few wooden carvings and pictures. He also noticed a katana mounted on the opposite wall behind Hiashi. The floor was bare, excepting the table that the clan head was sitting behind.

"_Have they got a room exclusively for sitting and talking with family members?"_ he thought in awe. New surprises seemed to spring out continually to him in this place. But it wasn't just the grandeur of the place or the fact that it would all be Hinata's some day that was surprising him.

"_She isn't affected by it at all…"_ he realised. So many of the richer people he had met and got to know over the years were aloof or distant or stuck up. He looked at Hinata with admiration.

"_She's the exact opposite"_ he told himself happily.

Hinata had been watching out of the corner of her eye while Naruto swivelled his head around and smiled. She and her sister had their head bowed respectfully but she knew that it couldn't be expected of him, she just hoped her father would understand.

She looked up as her father began speaking. Naruto also stopped his inspection to listen.

"I have considered your request to allow you…" he looked at Hanabi "…to enter the Chuunin exam" he began.

"I agree that you are strong enough to enter the exam. Due to our training together I am personally aware of your abilities" he concluded, evidently now finished with Hanabi.

"Then there is the question of your prospective team mates" he went on.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" he enquired.

Naruto straightened up a little; his knees were starting to hurt from being folded underneath him but he retained what composure he had.

"Hai" he answered, as respectfully as he could.

"I have spoken to the Hokage recently and she assured me that you would be a valuable addition to any Chuunin team she could think of. I have also read through your mission reports" he told the blonde.

"They are acceptable" he finished. Naruto silently let out a breath.

Hiashi finally turned to his eldest daughter.

"Hinata" he said simply.

"Hai" she replied, bowing her head again.

"I do not understand. Why are you trying to take this exam?" he asked.

Hinata hesitated and Hiashi went on.

"I am aware I cannot prevent you from doing so, but considering the embarrassment you caused our family the last time you took this exam it would be incredibly harmful to repeat such an incident again. Especially in front of all the major countries" he stated. Hinata felt her chest clench.

She glanced at the two next to her. To her surprise Naruto was smiling, offering her encouragement. Hinata swallowed, and summoned the courage to speak, desperately trying not to stutter.

"Let me prove I am not an embarrassment father" she asked in a level tone "I promise I will not hold back my team mates or embarrass my family" she stated. Naruto nodded his agreement and Hanabi smiled.

Hiashi took a moments thought. In front of him the three younger ninja waited with baited breath.

"I will allow Hanabi to enter the exam" he said finally.

"All right!" Naruto yelled, leaping to his feet and finally allowing himself to release the tension. Hinata and Hanabi bowed their heads. Hiashi ignored Naruto's improper behaviour, and passed his youngest daughter the document required to enter the exam.

"Hinata" the Hyuuga leader stated to get her attention. She looked up at him, drawing her gaze from the celebrating Naruto.

"I will hold you to your promise" he said simply. Hinata nodded.

"Hai" she quietly replied.

XXXXXXXXXX

Second longest chapter. Hey, did I get ya earlier? Did I? Did ya think Naruto and Hinata were gonna…? I'm a little evil. I would just like to point out, one of the reasons that Naruto is not realising what his feelings mean is that he is worried about his perverted thoughts. Unfortuantely due to Jiraiya, Naruto now counts a lot of things as perverted. Also, Naruto's a fool. I know… but like I said I'm not gonna make him instantly fall for her, at the moment he is still hung up on Sakura. There are other reasons too, but they'll come to light. Hope you're glad there were no Genin deaths; someone was worried about a war, and that would've been a bit of a tragedy. By the way can you guess what Sho's ability is? Or Mihoto's? Though that would take mind-reading powers. Next update will be Wednesday/Thursday at the earliest, essay to do y'see…

Later.


	15. Arriving and Planning

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime. I'm sorry it's been so long since the last chapter, I had an essay to do. Didn't actually get any sleep the night before it was handed in. I'm fairly sure my body clock is broken… Anyway, this chapter is kinda a double apology. The first apology is for the time since the last update due to the last essay, the second is… (Don't kill me) I have another one for Wednesday, and then another one for two weeks after that. Believe me; I'm more annoyed than you. Whoever came up with the idea for us to do a three thousand word book review should die… Anyway, here it is…

Chapter 15: Arriving and Planning

The last few days had been the strangest mixture of relieved tension and increasing tension. The patrols around the grass country had abated slightly but with every step closer to their destination Kiba could feel added electricity in the air. What had thrown him the most was the fact that he could sense it in Kakashi who, despite giving the outward appearance of being totally calm was obviously stressed.

"_Of course, it would be obvious to me"_ Kiba smiled _"I can __smell__ emotional change"_ he thought proudly. His sense of smell wasn't just a battle skill he knew; it could be used to read people quite well and it worked especially well if he knew them. Hinata had commented that he'd be useful to Konoha in negotiations between countries because of it, and he'd been especially happy with that. He smiled to himself, thinking about his indigo haired team mate as he jumped through the trees.

"_I wonder what she's doing at the moment"_ he thought _"The next Chuunin exam was coming up, she always gets really tense around then…I wonder if she'll find a team this year"_ he reflected sadly as he remembered her previous efforts to do so. Even despite his and Shino's help no one had ever agreed to join the Hyuuga heiress. Most had called her weak, which had pissed off Kiba no end. Even more worryingly, some had looked scared at the question. His thoughts wandered back to the fateful mission team eight had been assigned that had given Hinata her Chuunin promotion.

"_She's not a monster…"_ he thought bitterly _"She was just protecting us…"_ though he had to admit, none of them had seen the actual events take place. He, Kurenai and Shino had all woken up to find each and every enemy dead and Hinata collapsed on the floor.

"_But she wouldn't accept any form of praise for it"_ Kiba remembered _"She barely accepted the Chuunin rank from the Hokage, and then only because she was ordered to"._ But to him that wasn't the worst part of the episode.

"_She still won't talk to anyone about what happened. I've even tried asking her directly, but she just says she doesn't want to talk about it. How can't she see she's a hero?" _he thought desperately. He sighed in frustration. Shino had told him to drop it but…

"_We can't just drop it, it's obviously bothering her"_ he reasoned to himself, thinking back to the conversation with his team mate.

"…_and I'm not like a dog with a bone"_ he thought angrily.

Something entered his attention abruptly, he smelt fresh water ahead. As he moved closer the dull roar of the river became more evident. They were nearly there. Next to him Akamaru whined, telling him what he already knew. He nodded to his four legged friend and held up a hand behind himself, signalling the other two to stop. He pushed the thoughts of Hinata down for the moment, right now he was on a mission and he was needed by his team. That conversation with Sakura a few days ago had highlighted the importance of this mission to her, and he still remembered the promise Naruto had made to Sakura before they had set off after him. Kakashi too, as he had already noticed, was also getting tense.

"_Even if I don't particularly like him, they want him back"_ He thought to himself. He smiled _"I remember Shikamaru said something like that before we all went out to get him…" _he remembered.

A split second after he had thought this his pink haired team mate landed just ahead of him. After her came their team leader who landed right next to him, though as he did so he wobbled slightly and almost seemed to lose his footing before he righted himself quickly. Kiba's eyes narrowed.

"_It's not just emotional stress he's under"_ he realised _"He seems exhausted. No, he __is__ exhausted. Why did he let himself be assigned this mission in his state? And how did he get so tired?"_ he wondered. Whatever the reason, it was too late now. Tomorrow the meeting would take place.

"_I'll have to talk to Kakashi-sensei before then"_ Kiba decided.

Next to him, Kakashi wondered if anyone had picked up on his little slip.

"_I really __am__ tired"_ he thought, annoyed with himself _"But…"_ he reasoned _"…if I hadn't gone, would there have been a replacement? Even if there was, would they have been able to handle the incident between Sakura and Kiba? Not just that, but this mission is important to __me__ too. Sasuke was my student…"_ he felt as bad as the others at the fact he had gone, especially as he could relate to the pain Sasuke had gone through. He didn't know what to think, other than his new Sharingan technique wore him out far more than he thought it would.

"_The rest I got in the Sand village wasn't enough…"_ he told himself_ "…and then we all left Konoha almost as soon as we got back"_ he sighed inwardly, looking over at Kiba and Akamaru _"It's a good thing we did have these two with us" _he realised_ "They both helped with getting us through those patrols and if Naruto had been here instead I might've had to stay up the entire time to avoid them"_ and he knew for a fact that he wouldn't have been able to keep that up. As it was, Kiba and Akamaru had allowed him just enough rest to let him keep up the façade of being fine.

"_Well, maybe not anymore"_ he thought, judging by the look Kiba was giving him. He'd talk to him later, Kakashi signalled for them to move on. Ahead of them, Sakura nodded and moved off ahead. Kiba's expression clearly was saying 'I need to talk to you', but before he could say anything Kakashi had set off behind the girl.

It took them another five minutes to reach the bridge and fortunately for them all there was no sign of patrols, or any other sorts of protection around it. Kakashi turned to them both and laid out his plans.

"Kiba" he paused "And Akamaru" he added "I want you to set up traps on that side of the bridge, in and around the surrounding area" Kiba nodded, but Kakashi continued.

"I want them non-lethal. Knock out gas or blinding seals are fine, anything else like that. And set up so they only go off if you're moving away from the bridge. We don't know which side they'll be approaching from. I'm told you know how to make traps almost invisible" Kiba smiled "I don't want that" Kiba's smiled disappeared "I want them completely invisible" he stressed "Got it?" Kiba nodded slowly.

"And I know this is obvious, but make sure you remember where they are. I know you'll be able to smell where they are, but you need to tell us where they are afterwards" he turned to Sakura "Basically the same for you as for Kiba but on the other side" Sakura nodded, but looked questioningly at the older shinobi.

"What about you Kakashi-sensei?" she asked. He pointed down over the edge of the cliff.

"I'll be making sure there's no escape route down there" he informed them nonchalantly. Sakura nodded again, but Kiba found himself wondering if the silver haired Jounin could do it in his condition.

"Let's get to it then" Sakura announced, striding off into the woods. Kiba nodded and set off across the bridge with Akamaru, giving Kakashi another quick glance as the older man moved down the side of the cliff.

XXXXXXXXXX

As they passed through the gates of Konoha both Chouji and Shikamaru allowed themselves brief sighs of relief. They smiled at the shared moment. Shikamaru looked over at the Sand Genin standing next to Temari, who still seemed a little preoccupied.

"I've gotta go and get their accommodation and paperwork sorted out" he told his friend "I'll see ya later".

"Yeah, I've got to sort some stuff out too. See ya" Chouji replied. Shikamaru nodded as he walked away, and Chouji nodded back before turning and facing the three Rock shinobi standing in front of the small watch house. He noticed Izumo and Kotetsu were both there explaining where they would be staying. He also saw that the three Iwagakure ninja had already been given the necessary papers to authorise their entry into Konoha.

"_It looks like I actually don't have much to do"_ he thought to himself with a smile.

As he walked over he realised that Eri wasn't listening to what the two older Leaf-nin were saying. Rather, she had turned around and was examining each and every Konoha resident with a look of unconcealed malice.

"_But it's more than that"_ Chouji realised _"It looks as if she's __searching__ for someone"_ he thought in surprise. He managed to time reaching the three shinobi as the two older leaf ninja stationed at the gate finished their explanation. Mihoto and Sho turned. Eri didn't need to as she seemingly hadn't been paying any attention to what was being said behind her. Instead she fixed Chouji with the look of pure distaste that he had grown somewhat used to in the short time he had been around her.

"You know, we don't need you anymore. Get lost" she told him forcefully. Chouji stopped. He was never quite sure how to react to her, pure anger was impossible to reason with and it wasn't in his nature to get angry back. Fortunately her team mates were a little more sociable.

"You shouldn't say that Eri" her twin said reproachfully. Mihoto turned to Chouji.

"Thank you for escorting us to Konoha, we will be leaving now" she bowed slightly.

Chouji scratched his head "You don't need me to get you to where you're staying or anything?" he asked.

Sho grinned "We'll be fine" he assured Chouji "Let's go then" he said to the two girls. Mihoto nodded and Eri made a non committal sound. Chouji was left watching them leave and chuckled to himself slightly; Sho seemed to be getting quite a lot of attention because of his height. It was blatantly obvious he was young but he was already towering over most other people.

"_He can't be that far off two metres tall…he must be pretty strong too"_ he thought _"How old was he again?"_ he wondered, trying to remember all the conversations he had had with the three of them. He recalled Eri having a go at him.

"_It was something about being lazy…but I remember he's only two years older than them…and they're around my age…"_ his thoughts trailed off as he wondered about Sho. But he was also worried about the other two _"Why is Eri so angry? And there's something about their parents…"_ he shook himself slightly.

"_Like Shikamaru said, it's not my problem anymore" _he decided _"Anyway, I need to report to the Hokage. I need to see if the other Rock ninja will arrive in time"_ he looked over to Shikamaru, who was still standing by Temari. He smiled slightly and set of towards the Hokage residence..

However even as he did so the thoughts of the Iwagakure shinobi were still bugging him.

XXXXXXXXXX

As he walked over to Temari, Shikamaru smiled.

"_Obviously she's shaken pretty bad"_ he thought _"She really should have sensed Chouji's group long before that incident"_ his mind drifted back to the short battle between the Sand and Rock ninja and his smile quickly disappeared.

"_That one guy though…he was strong"_ Shikamaru wasn't self obsessed, he knew that once Temari was fighting she wouldn't be distracted. Not by him, or anything else.

"_And that means he actually managed to get through her attacks…"_ and that really was a troublesome thought. He reached Temari.

"Hey there" he drawled, in his usual bored tone. She glanced at him.

"Hey" she replied tersely "They've all been told already where they'll be staying, we can let them wander around a bit" she told him. He nodded and they both watched the Genin wander into Konoha. The relationship was good enough between Konoha and Suna now that friendships were becoming a lot more common between the two villages, they didn't really have to worry about supervision.

Looking over by the gates Shikamaru noticed that Chouji was leaving too. There was a small silence between the two remaining ninja.

"So..." he started, but was interrupted by the blonde.

"I've got some stuff to do" she announced abruptly, turning away "Later" she finished, before leaping off. Shikamaru scratched the back of his head.

"_What was that about?"_ he asked himself. Suddenly he realised that he'd have to report back to the Hokage.

"_She's probably gonna grill me over the whole fight thing. It wasn't even my fault…" _he moaned to himself.

"Troublesome women…" he sighed. With his thoughts back on the fight he wondered about the chances of the Konoha Genin against that team.

"_Maybe I should try to warn some of them"_ he thought worriedly_ "I don't really have the time though"_ he knew. Especially since he needed to report to Tsunade. He realised where Chouji had been going.

"_Maybe I'll be able to catch up with Chouji"_ he thought.

With that, he set off in the direction that Chouji had just left in.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Isn't it awesome Hinata?" Naruto enthused as they both walked from the room "We're actually gonna be able to enter the exam!" Hinata nodded, trying to allow herself to bask in his excitement.

But what her father had said was still troubling her, even after he had left with Hanabi. Though their relationship had improved over the past few years, he still felt the same way about her and her sister.

"_I know he still thinks I'm weak, but that's one of the reasons why I'm doing this isn't it?"_ she asked herself _"Even if father is only allowing this for Hanabi…"_ she thought sadly. She stopped herself.

"_This is an opportunity to prove myself. I can't fail"_ she decided _"I will do my best and prove that I am not weak"_ her thoughts turned to the boy next to her _"And I mustn't hold him back…I'm doing this to prove myself to him too"_ she noticed he was still talking animatedly. She smiled.

"I'll become a Chuunin and another step closer to Hokage!" the spiky blonde carried on next to her excitedly. Hinata noticed they had reached the entrance of the Hyyuga compound. Beside her, Naruto's thoughts seemed to reach a conclusion.

"We need to celebrate" he said decisively turning to her "Let's go get some ramen Hinata!" he announced, as if it was the best idea in the world. Hinata giggled slightly; somehow Naruto was breaking through her depression. She loved the way he made her feel.

"What?" Naruto asked uncertainly "Are you laughing at me?" he inquired. His eyes narrowed in mock annoyance.

Hinata shook her head "N-No, but… wouldn't you be having r-ramen anyway?" she wondered aloud. Naruto grinned.

"Yeah… I guess…" he conceded "But this is gonna be celebration ramen" he insisted "That means its better" he told her confidently.

"Like the time I ate ramen with Iruka-sensei after I became a Genin, that tasted even better than normal ramen" he explained. Hinata giggled again and Naruto noticed the he really like the sound, its rarity value alone made it memorable. Twice in a day was an achievement. He grabbed her hand.

"Let's go!" he exclaimed, and Hinata found herself being dragged along. Her face became instantly blushed as she realised he was holding her hand. But that thought had very little time to stick in her mind as she noticed Naruto was about to jump. She readied herself, and leapt at the same time as the blue eyed boy. They landed on the roof together and Naruto let go of her hand. Hinata felt a small wave of disappointment before Naruto grinned at her and motioned her to follow him, standing on the edge of the roof. She nodded and they both launched themselves off again.

The next few events seemed to happen in slow motion.

The tile under Naruto's foot was loose, and as he pushed off it slid out from underneath his foot and shot out behind him. He desperately clawed at the air but had nothing to hold onto as he slipped forward. Hinata, now past him and above him could only watch in horror as he fell with a shout face first over the edge of the building and onto the street below. There was a thud, and then a loud curse.

When Hinata had managed to get down to street level she found Naruto in a heap, with another person beneath him.

"N-Naruto-kun, are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

Naruto nodded and groaned, facing her from his prone position on the floor.

"I think something broke my fall" he told her. She was about to tell him when she was interrupted.

"Not something. Someone" an annoyed voice groaned beneath him "This is so troublesome…" it complained.

"Shikamaru?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"Yes, now would you mind getting off?" he asked "It's getting kind of hard to breathe" he complained. Naruto quickly jumped to his feet and dusted himself down slightly. Shikamaru got up more slowly, and made more of a show of patting himself down before fixing Naruto with a look. Naruto grinned back and gave a small laugh.

"Heh, sorry about that. A tile came loose and…" Shikamaru just sighed, managing to silence the loud boy. He noticed Hinata beside Naruto, playing with her fingers. He cocked his head to the side questioningly.

"What are you two doing together?" he enquired. Naruto beamed. Hinata blushed.

"We were just going to get ramen to celebrate our entry into the Chuunin exams" Naruto announced enthusiastically. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"So you're not gonna be the only Genin out of all of us anymore then?" Shikamaru stated with a small grin. Naruto grimaced, knowing that he was being provoked. But Shikamaru was looking at Hinata.

"_Our__ entry?"_ he wondered _"Hinata is entering too? Wait"_ he told himself, suddenly remembering the Rock ninja.

"If you're entering the exam then there's something I need to talk to you about" he told them both.

Naruto and Hinata looked at each other questioningly.

XXXXXXXXXX

And there it is. Argh, I need sleep. And I have football training tomorrow, and I haven't written a word of that essay yet… grrrr. I promise, when I've got these damn essays over I'll go back to my usual update rate. I still haven't got to the bloody Chuunin exam, and I've still got to sort out the bridge of heaven and earth malarkey. All the ideas are up here though (Points to head). Anyway, if I don't sleep now I'll be a wreck tomorrow.

Later.


	16. Waiting

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime. Ah, two essays down, one to go. I think it's almost a tradition now that I don't sleep the night before I hand in an essay. Anyway, I'm gonna try and update a little more frequently for a bit. At least until I start work on my next essay, the next one's the big one - and the last.

Chapter 16: Waiting

Walking around Konoha in the middle of the day gave a great impression of why it was considered one of the most powerful hidden villages. The sheer number of people around meant that at least statistically, the Leaf village would produce more ninja than any other. Mihoto was impressed.

"_This wasn't quite what I expected"_ she admitted to herself, continuing to look around. She noticed ninja jumping across the rooftops overhead and smiled, wondering what the owners of the houses thought of the constant interruptions. Her gaze shifted upwards even further.

"_It's completely cloudless"_ she noticed _"No wonder I'm getting so hot…no more trees to shade us"_ she thought. It had to be admitted, none of them were used to this heat. The Earth country was a windy place and that necessitated their outfits, herself and Eri wrapped head to toe in their long trench coats and trousers and Sho, well… He seemed a little more appropriately dressed for these sorts of conditions in his three quarter lengths and open jacket but he still looked uncomfortable in the heat. It wasn't the only reason for his discomfort though.

"_He's getting a lot of attention" _she realised, and she knew it couldn't just be the fact that he was a foreign ninja; he was getting more attention by far than the other two. The fact his height might be a factor never crossed her mind, having gotten so used to that. While pondering this question she glanced over at her sister next to her and saw a scowl on her face.

"_Obviously the heat's getting to her too…"_ she thought. But she knew that wasn't the only reason. Mihoto sighed slightly.

"_How did we get dragged into this?"_ she wondered, silently asking her male team mate. He looked at her, noticing the sigh.

"Everything ok?" he asked. She looked surprised and Sho noticed her green eyes were clouded slightly with worry. She pulled herself out of her reverie.

"Oh, yes" she replied "It's just a bit hot, you know?" she pulled at the front of her coat slightly to emphasise the point. He nodded slowly, not entirely convinced. His face lightened up slightly.

"If you're so hot, why don't you take the coat off?" he suggested with a smile. Suddenly, Eri's head snapped round.

"You know she can't do that!" she hissed angrily. Sho held his hands up and laughed slightly.

"I know, I know. It was a joke" he explained, still smiling. Mihoto sensed her twin was about to boil over. She desperately tried to change the subject.

"How far until we get to where we're staying?" she asked the tall ninja brightly, breaking the tension. Sho took a quick look around, trying to work out where they were. While he did so Mihoto tried to check up on her sister. Ever since they had arrived she had been fixing each villager with a black look that really hadn't helped the attention they were getting.

"_We need to find this place and try and calm her down"_ she told herself _"Anything could set her off right now. Sho did __not__ help"_ she put a hand on Eri's shoulder, and was about to speak when Sho interrupted her.

"I think it's just up ahead" he motioned in front, taking a few steps forward. Mihoto followed with a still scowling Eri in tow. Abruptly, and without warning Sho stopped in front of them.

"Oh…crap" he breathed. Mihoto joined him, looking puzzled.

"What?" she asked, getting no answer from the shinobi beside her.

She followed his line of sight. Off and away to their right the Hokage Mountain had risen into view. Her face formed a look of horror matching the one of the boy next to her. They both quickly turned to Eri. But it was too late, she had already seen it.

"_Oh god, she's visibly shaking…"_ both thought. Mihoto threw herself at her sister and grabbed her hand, looking straight into what would have been the mirror image of her own face, if that mirror image was contorted in rage. Sho looked on, worry etched all over his face.

"Don't!" she begged "You'll get yourself killed! Please calm down!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"…And that's why I'd be careful of the Rock ninja" Shikamaru finished. He felt better for at least warning one set of Konoha ninja about them, especially since those ninja turned out to be his friends. Naruto looked sceptical.

"No offence to your girlfriend or anything…" he goaded Shikamaru, causing the lazy boy to blush slightly and grimace "… but we're not worried about combat, are we Hinata?" he stated confidently. Naruto patted the indigo haired girls shoulder causing her to start slightly, though the blonde didn't notice.

"You should see some of the techniques she has!" he enthused, continuing "We're gonna breeze this exam" he assured Shinkamaru, while the girl blushed. Said ninja rolled his eyes.

"_I almost regret wasting my breath"_ he thought. He fixed Naruto with a look.

"She isn't my girlfriend…" he replied lazily.

"_At least, not yet…"_ he thought within the privacy of his own head, smiling inwardly.

"…and I'm warning you because I think it's worth doing" he went on "I wouldn't waste my breath otherwise" he assured the blue eyed boy.

"Plus, whatever you say, Temari is a Jounin and he got past her techniques" he argued. Naruto still looked visibly unimpressed. Hinata looked between the two and tried to work out what to do. She looked up at Shikamaru.

"T-Thank you, Shikamaru-kun" she said, effectively defusing the tension. Leaving him with a look of surprise on his face she turned to her blonde team mate.

"N-Naruto-kun, I think Shikamaru-kun was j-just trying to help" she reasoned "I don't think he w-was doubting our abilities" she smiled. Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and laughed slightly.

"Yeah… I guess…" he conceded. He turned to Shikamaru "Thanks for the heads up" he grinned. Shikamaru looked between the two, visibly shocked.

"…No problem?" he managed. Naruto looked satisfied and turned to the girl.

"So do you want to get some lunch now?" he enquired. Hinata nodded and smiled, turning to face the direction of Ichiraku's. Naruto seemed to stop for a moment and she looked questioningly at him. He smiled at her, causing her to blush.

"_I know it's not really a date, we've done this every day we've trained"_ she told herself, trying to stay firmly grounded _"…But it's good to be alone with him…"_ she conceded to herself, blushing slightly deeper.

"Het Shikamaru, do you wanna join us for some food?" Naruto asked loudly. Hinata felt her heart sink. But behind them Shikamaru shook his head.

"Nah" he replied, causing Hinata heart to leap again "I've got to report back to Tsunade-sama. It's troublesome but it needs doing" he admitted. He started to walk down the street.

"Later" he called back. Naruto looked across at Hinata and smiled.

"I guess it's just the two of us then huh?" he thought aloud. Hinata found she couldn't reply, words were getting stuck in her throat.

"Are you okay? Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned. Hinata shook her head.

"Mmmph" she managed, cursing her lack of ability to speak in times like these. She motioned in the direction of Ichiraku's and Naruto nodded slowly before taking the lead, still wondering what was wrong. Hinata let out a breath, and joined him.

XXXXXXXXXX

Temari looked around; it didn't look like Shikamaru was following her. She relaxed.

"_Now I can find that Ino girl and talk to her about this whole stupid mess"_ she told herself. She stepped forward, then suddenly realised she had no idea where she was going. She stopped to take a moment to think. She really didn't know the lazy ass's team mate, she knew. Her thoughts took a different track.

"_Now what has he said about her before?"_ she thought, racking her brains. As she did so, a strange feeling stole over her.

"_How many times __has__ he actually talked about her?"_ she asked herself, thinking. Whatever the exact number was, it really wasn't a large one, she decided. She frowned.

"_I knew something felt wrong…surely he'd talk about her more if…"_ her thoughts tailed off.

"_Now I really need to talk to that girl"_ she decided, trying to remember what little conversation she and Shikamaru had had regarding the rest of his team. Her brain flagged up a possibility.

"_Didn't he say she was training to be a medical ninja?" _she thought.

"_Some complaint about an injury during a mission…his troublesome team mate experimenting on him…" _she smiled. That was it.

"_So if she became a medical ninja…"_ she tried to think of the most likely place.

"_The hospital, obviously"_ she realised, setting off.

XXXXXXXXXX

Once they had arrived at the ramen stand Hinata had managed to calm herself down enough to be able to order. Now, sitting next to Naruto and in front of a steaming bowl of ramen the atmosphere was a lot less awkward and she was enjoying listening to Naruto talk.

"Like I said, I'm not worried about the combat parts of the exam" he told her "We're gonna be easily better than everyone" he laughed confidently.

"S-Still, it was good of him to t-tell us, he was obviously w-worried" she said smiling. Naruto shrugged, in the process of lifting noodles to his mouth. Hinata watched as he slurped them up and then waved his chopsticks in the air as he talked, his mouth full of food.

"Yeah, but to him everything's so…" he tried to impersonate Shikamaru "Troublesome…" he smiled as the lavender eyed girl giggled slightly "He's probably exaggerating" he reasoned, mentally giving himself a point on his imaginary 'make Hinata laugh' scoreboard.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much" he told her. She nodded, delicately lifting some of her own ramen noodles to her mouth. Naruto watched in amazement, as he always did, as she managed to fill her mouth without resorting to his tactic of slurping. She chewed on the noodles. He quickly looked away before she noticed him staring.

"_I guess it's to be expected from someone of her class"_ he told himself, smiling. He tried to think of a new topic for the conversation; though the silence was comfortable he always seemed to have an urge to fill it.

"I'm still more worried about the written test bit" he admitted with a laugh. And this was true. He laughed again, returning his attention to his ramen.

"Imagine what an idiot like me would've been I like if you hadn't been helping me" he joked with a grin, leaning over his bowl and lifting more noodles up. Hinata regarded him with a sad look.

"Don't s-say that Naruto-kun" she told him reproachfully. He looked at her, surprised.

"Hmm?" he said, swallowing his food.

"Y-You're not an idiot" she repeated "Y-You try hard, and keep going and you understand e-everything that I tell you" Naruto smiled, still surprised, and she continued.

"Your only w-weakness is you have trouble concentrating sometimes" she paused "But everyone has that p-problem sometimes" she finished quickly. She smiled nervously and blushed slightly. Naruto grinned.

"I know, I've been told that before" his thoughts drifted briefly to Jiraiya and the constant complaints over his concentration.

"But you really have helped Hinata" he reminded her, laughing nervously again.

"Anyway, we shouldn't worry, the exam'll be fine" he finished with a smile. Hinata nodded, but still looked upset.

"I-I know but…" she sighed "…you s-shouldn't put yourself down l-like that" she murmured softly, just loud enough for him to hear. She turned back to her bowl, colour moving on to her cheeks as he continued to look at her with an intense expression.

"Thanks…" he replied with a genuine smile, surprising the girl and giving her heart a jolt. She tried smiling back and replying; unfortunately forgetting she had just raised ramen to her mouth. Naruto watched as she came very close to letting some escape from between her lips, before quickly slapping her hand over her mouth.

There was an awkward silence, before Naruto burst out laughing at her expression. Swallowing, she smiled back. Magically the tension disappeared.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_Somehow…" _Sho thought, relieved_ "We managed to calm her down __and__ find our apartment"_ he stole a look at the door separating him from the two twins.

"_I really don't envy Mihoto"_ he said to himself, thinking of the problems the fiery one of the twins posed. He sighed.

"_But she wasn't always like this…"_ he remembered regretfully. Dark thoughts crossed his mind briefly. He sighed again and leant back against the wall, closing his eyes.

An image of two young, smiling girls flitted into his mind. Dressed identically, one had their arm around the other and the girl who was being held had her head on her sister's shoulder. Bathed in light, their identical green eyes seemed to sparkle with the innocence of youth.

Suddenly the image was replaced with a darker one. The girl who had been supported by her twin was crouched down and her face was covered in tears, her arms covering her head. The other girl was standing in front of her, facing away. This girls arm was out across her sister, shielding her with a protective gesture. Her green eyes were hardened and a look of pure hatred was projected out in front of her.

Sho rubbed his eyes with the tips of his fingers.

"_And now it's all come to this…"_ he told himself, staring at the ceiling. He put his head back against the wall.

"Stop trying to convince me not to do it!" a voice shouted out, as the door slammed open.

Sho's head whipped round, and he fell back in surprise.

"Woah… damn." he exclaimed, before righting himself. He looked up to see Eri, red faced and furious. Mihoto followed her behind with a concerned look on her face. She was just about to speak when the livid girl interrupted.

"You promised you'd help!" she cried angrily "So don't try to tell me not to now! Stop trying to convince me it's stupid! You know how I feel and you can't change my mind!" she told her sister forcefully. Sho looked between the two of them.

"_So it's back to this again…" _he thought, wearily. He started to raise himself to his feet, taking his time.

"But it is stupid!" the worried girl insisted with a cry of her own. Eri was about to speak again when Sho moved next to Mihoto.

"You know how I feel about this too." he told Eri levelly. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"No-one asked your opinion" she replied nastily. Mihoto looked her sister in the eye and frowned, surprising Sho slightly.

"Don't get annoyed at Sho. Don't forget, I feel the same way" she said, a little more assertively. Eri turned to her sister.

"This is for you too!" she cried, her temper rising again. Eri fixed her gaze on the mirror image of herself, but Mihoto's expression didn't change.

"Fine." She stated calmly "I'll do it on my own. I don't need you guys" Eri started to turn away and Mihoto's tough expression collapsed.

"No! You know you can't do it alone, then you'll definitely get yourself killed!" Mihoto started to reach out her hand, on the verge of tears.

"You can't stop me" Eri fixed them both with a hard look. Sho looked between the two and was hauntingly reminded of his earlier vision.

"You will be killed though" he told her. She regarded him with her cold green eyes for a moment, and then shrugged.

"And if that happens, it happens. I've made my decision" she replied. Sho looked at the Mihoto. Worry was written all over her expression.

"_She doesn't know what to do either…"_ he realised. He saw her hang her head.

"Fine…" she whispered, barely allowing the other two to hear her "I'll help…". Sho rubbed his eyes again and sighed.

"I can't just go ahead and allow you both to get yourselves killed…" he decided aloud. Mihoto gave him a weak smile.

"Good…" Eri's expression seemed to soften slightly. There was a moment of awkward silence. Eri looked at Mihoto inquisitively.

"Are you okay? Do you need a rest?" she asked. Mihoto shook her head, still upset.

"Yeah… but I'm hungrier really…" she replied "I'm going to find something to eat" she stated making for the door, trying to escape the tension in the air. Sho followed her, giving an unfathomable look back at Eri.

Eri watched as her twin left with the tall boy and her heart clenched as she remembered Mihoto's earlier tone and expression.

"_But…"_ she thought _"I decided to do this a long time ago, and I will go through with it even if you decide not to help"_ she repeated to herself, for the thousandth time.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sakura walked back from her side of the bridge, confident she had covered all the escape routes. At the very least it would slow the spy down if they tried to make an escape, she was sure of that. She looked over the sheets of paper she had written down the location of all her traps on.

"_That's all of them"_ she decided with a look of resolution on her face _"I just hope Kiba's are all written down, we don't need a trap going off in each of our faces in the middle of a fight"_ she smiled grimly. She still wished Naruto was on the team, despite the reasons that Tsunade had given.

"_But even so…"_ she said to herself _"I don't think Naruto would be as good at setting traps as Kiba…"_ she had to admit, the dog boy's addition to the team had been completely vindicated so far.

"_As much as I hate to admit it, he's even been more use than __me__ so far"_ she conceded. Well, that was about to change she decided. She looked up to see Kiba sitting down next to Akamaru. She noticed they were both eating. As she approached them she saw exactly what it was they were eating.

"Eww, gross!" she recoiled slightly and Kiba looked up questioningly.

"Raw meat? Geez, you're sick Kiba" she told him, a look of disgust on her face. He smiled.

"What, there's nothing wrong with it" he defended, still grinning at Sakura's expression.

"Steak's fine uncooked" he went on confidently "And you don't need to build a fire or anything so we don't attract attention. Tastes good too. There, plenty of good reasons for it: pick one" he tore another strip of the meat off with his teeth as if to demonstrate the point.

Sakura grimaced and turned her head away. As she did so she noticed Kakashi approaching.

"Raw meat huh?" the masked Jounin asked, nodding towards Kiba. Kiba only nodded back and Kakashi shrugged.

"Have you both got copies of where you left your traps?" he asked the two of them. They both held up sheets of paper and Kakshi took one of each. He motioned for them to exchange the others.

"Now, the next thing is to decide on tactics for taking care of this spy" he stated, sitting down. He motioned for Sakura to follow suit. He continued as she did so.

"First, he is a spy for Akatsuki so we can assume that this person is a strong opponent. I don't want anyone underestimating them just because it will be four versus one" he got nods from the others. He nodded back.

"Good. Next, this spy will be expecting Sasori so one of us will have to use a henge to impersonate him…" more nods "…that will be me" he told them.

"While I am transformed, I want the rest of you completely hidden. You will be placed on the sides of the bridge you set traps on, that way we will have them surrounded immediately. Any questions?" he asked. There was silence.

"No? Okay. Lastly, we need this person for interrogation. That means we are not trying to kill him. I know I said this with the traps, but this is important. Incapacitation only" he turned to Sakura.

"You'll have to reign in your strength" he told her.

"Right" she replied.

"You understand too Kiba?" he asked.

"Yep" he acknowledged.

"Okay. Familiarise yourselves with the location of the traps and rest, tomorrow is the day" he finished.

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei" Sakura grinned in anticipation.

"Sure" Kiba grinned, starting to look at the traps sheet.

Silence fell over the group as they all started to memorise the areas the traps were set in. Unfortunately Sakura noticed Kiba continued to eat as he read. She shuddered slightly, thoroughly grossed out.

"I need to get some more water" she told them, getting up.

"I don't think I can sit in front of this…" she muttered to Kakashi. Fortunately Kiba wasn't paying attention.

"I'll be back in a bit" she called. Kakashi gave a half hearted wave, and then looked at the boy opposite him. After a few seconds Kiba felt the pressure of the Jounin's gaze and looked up. His eyes narrowed.

"We need to talk…"

XXXXXXXXXX

Ooooh someone has something to say, huh? I will be releasing two more chapters before I go back to essay work for a little bit. Then I'll be FREE! And then I should be able to return a longer period of regular updates. I'm listening to such good music at the moment; it keeps me awake when I need it the most. Anyone who hasn't heard of "Layla" by Eric Clapton should check it out immediately on youtube. I also think it'd be a great song for Naruto to sing to Hinata. By the way, if anyone wants to read another (hehe) really good fanfiction about Naruto and Hinata check out "Mokushita Hyuuga" by Moghedian. I'm promoting it cos I think it's awesome, it's complete and it's a really decent length. I hope other people promote my fic in their stories if they like this, then we can all share the goodness. Next update in a coupla days, promise.

Later.


	17. Harder than we thought

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime. I recently thanked a bunch of people for their reviews. Unfortunately I forgot who I thanked and so had to stop; for fear of annoying people with repeated messages… what I have decided to do now is thank people as their reviews come in. However if you have been reviewing for a while and I didn't send you a message PLEASE let me know. Don't be shy. Seriously, let me know, cos I feel bad thanking some people but not others. I seek equality. I also sound like a fool, hehe. Anyway…

Chapter 17: Harder than we thought

Kakashi sighed.

"_It looks like I've got some explaining to do…"_ he thought to himself.

"Why did you accept this mission?" Kiba asked accusingly, eliciting another sigh from Kakashi.

"So you've noticed?" he enquired. Kiba gave a dark laugh.

"You might be able to fool Sakura, and actually that's impressive since she's a medical ninja" he conceded "But you can't fool me" he tapped his nose "I can smell your fatigue" Kiba's expression seemed to be halfway between impressed and annoyed.

"Somehow you're almost running on pure adrenalin" Kiba stated, and seemed to think for a second. Kakashi decided to wait for the next question.

"I don't know which I want to know first, how you're like this or why you accepted a mission like this in your condition" he raised his eyebrows, as if to indicate it was Kakashi's choice over which one to tackle first. However, for some reason Kakashi seemed to be lost in thought.

"Hey!" Kiba waved his hand in front of Kakashi's face, pulling him back to the here and now. Kakashi gave Kiba a slightly vacant look.

"Hmm?" he murmured questioningly. Kiba groaned.

"Were you even listening?" he asked, starting to get more annoyed. Kakashi took a few moments to answer, and then looked into Kiba's eyes.

"_What is he thinking?"_ Kiba asked himself, just before the man in front of him started speaking.

"The reason I am tired is due a new Sharingan ability I have been developing recently" he informed the boy. His hand went to his left eye, which at that moment decided to ache slightly. He didn't bother to hide the brief expression of pain, figuring Kiba would smell it on him anyway. As the pain subsided Kakashi continued.

"I was forced into overusing it when I was on my last mission and as a result it drained me quite extensively-" he held his hand up slightly as Kiba opened his mouth "-which you have already noticed obviously. As for why I took this mission…" Kakashi paused briefly "…I managed to get some rest while at the sand village, and I thought I had recovered enough…I guess I was wrong" his voice was level and unconcerned. Kiba was again about to produce an outburst, but once again Kakashi got there first.

"I can still fight effectively though" he maintained in the same tone "I just won't be using high level techniques" he stopped and looked at Kiba, who still had a frown on his face.

"I do think you can still fight" he conceded "But…" his eyes narrowed "…this is still reckless!" his voice rose slightly, then quietened again "and… you were lying about something, I can tell" Kakashi looked slightly annoyed, but that did nothing to faze Kiba.

"Why did you accept this mission?" he asked again, fixing Kakashi with another stare "Bear in mind, I can tell if you're lying" he tapped his nose again with a brief ironic smile.

Kakashi stayed silent, and what expression was visible from underneath the mask made it evident that he was unwilling to talk. There was a moment of awkward silence. Kiba made a face.

"Fine…" He muttered, and Kakashi began relaxing "…though I'm sure Sakura will be interested to know about your exhaustion" Kiba continued, now staring uninterestedly into the trees. Kakashi visibly stiffened at his words. Nasty thoughts began circling in his mind.

"_At the very least I'd get killed…"_ Kakashi admitted to himself _"Especially in this state…"_ he looked at Kiba, who was now regarding the sky with the same uninterested expression.

"You know you'd be good for interrogation. Or politics" Kakashi told the young shinobi in front of him. Kiba smiled.

"I've heard that before" he admitted, thinking of Hinata "So you'll tell me the real reason you took on this mission?" he asked. Kakashi nodded slowly. Kiba sat back and Kakashi's expression seemed to turn vacant again. Kiba stopped himself from telling the man to get on with it.

"_He's finally telling the truth now after all"_ he figured. At that moment Kakashi started, albeit slowly and with little emotion.

"I've been on two teams now that have fallen apart…" he began, staring into the middle distance absently.

"One of those teams is broken beyond repair…" Kakashi seemed to get lost in thought again. He shook his head, as if dislodging the thoughts.

"However, I believe this team can still be repaired" he stated. Kiba nodded slightly but his face still held a frown.

"But why you?" he wondered aloud. Kakashi frowned, but continued.

"He was my student, maybe I feel I could have done more, who knows?" he said quietly.

"…_in both cases"_ he continued inside his head.

Kiba seemed to accept this explanation, though he had one last question.

"So what about that other team, what happened there?" he enquired. Kakashi's expression suddenly seemed to freeze.

"That's none of your business" he said brightly, and Kiba noted the edge to his voice.

"_That's a subject to be put under: leave alone_" Kiba decided quickly. He fixed Kakashi with one last stare.

"I'm still not happy with the situation…" he informed the older ninja "…but we can't do anything about it now" he reasoned.

"I won't tell Sakura" he promised. Kakashi nodded in acknowledgement, then, the conversation being over, laid down and closed his uncovered eye. Kiba looked at his furry white companion lying next to him.

"Looks like this'll be harder than we thought" he muttered.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Looks like this'll be harder than we thought"

Tenten gave Neji a smile, to show she was joking. But Tsunade had been right; it looked like Neji would take a while to fully recover. He had just pulled himself up from a sitting position in his hospital bed, and was now breathing, well… if not heavily, then at least a little quicker.

Neji himself was beginning to fully realise the effects of not using any of his muscles for about a week. Not eating hadn't helped either. But muscular atrophy was not the only problem; the condition of his lungs at the moment meant that those weakened muscles were also not getting enough oxygen to operate at peak efficiency. He frowned.

"_There's not been a day in…"_ he considered for a moment_ "…years… when I haven't trained in some way, shape or form"_ he thought to himself _"I would have lost fitness by not training anyway, but with the effects of this operation I am so far below my full strength"_ he raged at himself. And it was himself he was annoyed at.

"_I was the one who got distracted"_ Neji told himself, for the hundredth time _"And I've always said to her to never hold back…"_ he started to calm himself down, this wouldn't help.

"_What's past is past"_ he decided _"My only option now is to surpass my old strength. That is the only way I will never make that mistake again"_.

"Where are my clothes?" he asked Tenten. The girl in front of him stood up.

"Just over there" she pointed. Neji looked round and she started to make for the door as he picked up his clothes.

"I'll just leave you to change" she told him, sliding the door closed. As it shut, Neji thought he saw a tint of red in the girl's cheeks. He shook his head.

"_I need to get out of here and get stronger again"_ he said to himself, standing up. He was surprised at the amount of concentration that took, forcing his aching muscles to obey him. Suddenly his vision seemed to darken slightly, and his head felt light. His hand went to his head as he staggered slightly, dots dancing in front of his eyes.

"_Is this a head rush?"_ he asked himself, thinking _"It happens when you sit down for too long, and enough blood doesn't get to your head" _he remembered.

"_This must be it"_ he decided as his vision brightened again. He had to get rid of this weakness soon, he decided. It didn't suit him. He looked around, glad that no one else was occupying the room and was about to change his clothes when he stopped, realising something.

"_I haven't washed in…"_ he stopped himself right there. Quickly he took a look in the bathroom attached to the room. He breathed a sigh of relief, there was a shower. He walked to the door that led onto the corridor and spoke through it.

"I'm going to take a shower; I will be a little while" he said, assuming his team mate was on the other side.

"Oh… okay, sure" came the bright response. Neji went off into the bathroom.

Back in the hall Tenten was smiling to herself.

"_He always takes so long to wash"_ she thought _"I'm sure he takes ages cos of his long hair"_ she suppressed a giggle as she imagined a girly Neji brushing his soft shiny locks lovingly.

"Yeah… right…" she laughed quietly.

Somehow the image was just all wrong, _"The day Neji shows that he cares with obvious emotion will be the day the world ends"_ she thought with a grin.

Her thoughts went back to the boy in the room. Suddenly she found herself imagining Neji actually in the shower.

"_What the hell am I thinking?" _she thought, stopping herself with a blush. She slapped her face slightly and shook the thought.

XXXXXXXXXX

The hospital was one of the more obvious buildings, which helped, but it was mainly the fact that she had been before that allowed Temari to find it so easily.

"_I guess being an ambassador to this place has had its advantages"_ she thought with a smile, walking in. She spied the reception desk and made her way over, her usual deadpan expression on her face.

The receptionist looked up.

"May I help you?" she asked, taking note of the fact she was a Sand ninja. The tone of her voice was a bit off. Temari noticed the flicker of the eyes and sighed inwardly.

"_Looks like some people here still don't entirely trust us…"_ she realised. Well, that didn't bother her. She couldn't stop people from being paranoid.

"I'm trying to find someone who works here" Temari stated "She's called Ino-" she stopped; suddenly realising she didn't know the girls' surname.

"_Oh well, I can just leave it there" _she thought, looking at the receptionist. It seemed she recognised the name anyway as she was rifling through some papers.

"She's in room 107 right now" the woman told her looking at the notes. Temari turned down the hallway to leave. The woman looked up.

"She's with a patient!" Temari heard behind her, but she ignored it.

Room 107 was not hard to find either. Hospital layout had to be straightforward, in an emergency you couldn't have people getting confused. Temari decided to wait outside.

"_No sense in running in and disturbing her"_ she thought, removing her fan and setting it against the wall by the door, before doing leaning back herself. Beside her, the door opened. Temari turned her head to see a blonde clothed in tight purple clothing almost trip over her fan as she left the room.

"Whoa!" Ino exclaimed, barely stopping herself from running into the other blonde. Temari decided to stay silent as Ino's eyes widened in recognition.

"Oh…you!" she exclaimed again, loudly, recognising the person in front of her.

"You're Temari, right?" Ino asked, but didn't give her enough time to answer "Where's Shikamaru? Doesn't he always 'shadow' you whenever you're around?" she laughed at her own joke. Inwardly, Teamri sighed.

"_I can see why whenever he does talk about her he always calls her troublesome…"_ Temari thought darkly.

"I managed to lose him" Temari told the still grinning girl "I want to talk to you" Ino looked surprised at this.

"Me? Why?" she asked, genuinely confused. It was at this point Temari realised she had no idea what to say.

"_Well, I'll just have to improvise quickly"_ she thought, her mind racing. She bent down to pick up her fan and tried to buy herself some time.

"Why don't we walk to your next patient?" she suggested "This wont take long" she assured Ino, though in reality she had no idea how long it would take. Without warning her mind hit on an idea. She smiled; she loved the way her brain worked.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Ino asked as they walked, still looking confused. She pointed round a corner, leading the way.

"Shikamaru told me to tell you that he likes you, and wants to go out with you" Temari stated, straight out. Ino stopped suddenly, her back to Temari.

"_Well, that got her attention"_ Temari thought. Unexpectedly she noticed the girls shoulders were shaking.

"_Is she crying?"_ she asked herself. Her blood ran cold for a moment.

"_Was he telling the truth? Does he __really__ have feelings for her… and does she have feelings for him? Was I wrong, did I misread what he was doing?"_ she wondered, genuinely worried. She looked up. Either way, she had to stop this pony tailed girl from crying. She was about to reach out a hand but before she could move, Ino turned. Temari's eyes widened, there were tears all over her face.

Ino was crying with laughter, and she couldn't stop. Her shoulders shook, and the surprise of the comment had sent her straight into 'silent laughter'. She desperately tried to control herself, breathing in deeply. Her face stayed serious for a brief second but it didn't last, as she started giggling uncontrollably. Temari watched almost dumbstruck as the younger girl stood there clutching her stomach for at least another minute. Finally she seemed to gain some more permanent form of self control.

"Ohhhhhh…" Ino sighed, wiping her eyes "I'm sorry" she apologised "But that's the funniest thing I've heard in ages" she giggled again. Ino smiled.

"That lazy bastard, he sent you down here didn't he? And because he knew he could incapacitate me like that. Honestly, I'm not gonna be able to concentrate for the rest of the day with that in my head. And he damn well knows…" she gave another small laugh at the thought, before properly looking at Temari.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It looks like you got caught up in one of his little games" she gave an annoyed look "Just because he's cleverer than most, it doesn't mean he can play with us…" she patted Temari on the shoulder "Well, I've got to get back to work" she turned away "Bye" she waved as she walked away. As she did so Temari could hear her muttering to herself down the corridor.

She managed to catch "He likes me, ha! ...ohhh I don't think I can work now… so silly…" before Ino turned a corner. Temari just stood where she had been left, wheels turning inside her head. Something Ino had said had clicked inside her brain, but Temari couldn't quite put the pieces together…

"**Looks like you got caught up in one of his little games"** Temari frowned, remembering.

"_Those words…"_ she thought.

"_Well, at least now I know he can't really have feelings for her anyway…so why did he tell me that…"_ her thoughts tailed off.

"Dammit" she said to herself, stopping herself from shouting the word.

"_He was just trying to get a reaction from me…"_ she realised angrily _"…and I damn well gave him one didn't I?"_ she thought, remembering the whole Rock ninja incident.

"I will get him back for this…" she muttered darkly, striding down the hall.

"_And when I do…"_

XXXXXXXXXX

It had taken quarter of an hour for Neji's shower. It felt so much better, he realised. It had also nicely rejuvenated his muscles. They were still weak of course, but they felt like a part of him rather than annoying aching appendages. He dried himself off and dressed himself, slowly.

"_This is infuriating"_ he thought, annoyed, as he finished. He was about to stride out of the bathroom and meet Tenten outside when he noticed his gown on the floor. He shrugged inwardly, it'd get washed. As his eyes turned away they caught something, and he turned back. The strip of torn cloth that had been wrapped around his head was also lying on the floor. His hand moved to the seal on his forehead.

"_Tenten covered this up with that"_ he remembered.

Before he had realised it he had picked up the piece of cloth and placed it in his shirt. He shook his head as if to clear it and left the room.

Outside the room Tenten looked round at the sound of the door opening. She stood up as Neji came through.

"Feel better?" she asked. He shrugged in a non committal way.

"Kind of" he replied. In truth he was growing unsure of his legs and their ability to get him back home, though he wasn't going to admit it. Tenten was not fooled however, and was quite ready to catch her prideful team mate should he fall.

"_No, when he falls"_ she thought to herself, as they began their silent walk out of the hospital. She almost laughed as she observed the concentration on his face required for just walking, and the complete lack of attention that he was paying to anything else.

"_Not that he talks overly much anyway"_ she admitted. At that moment he finally stumbled forward. It was almost a relief for Tenten.

"_Now I can insist I help and he can't refuse, he can be so damn stubborn"_ Tenten thought as she caught him.

"Don't say a word" Tenten warned him as she lifted him to his feet "I'm helping you, no matter what you say" she smiled as he gave a resigned half sigh. Suddenly she noticed Lee up ahead and a thought slid its way into her head.

"Although…" Tenten started in a sing-song voice "If you don't want to accept my help I'm sure Lee can be persuaded into giving you a piggyback" she offered innocently. Neji's grip tightened on her.

"Hell no" he stated forcefully. She smiled.

"Good then" she replied as Neji put his arm round her shoulders "Let's get you back home" she grinned.

XXXXXXXXXX

Righty. I think one more chapter before the Heaven and Earth bridge bit and the Chuunin exams. Thing is, I'll kinda be leaving you hanging at that point for a bit cos I've got this essay to do. Sorry guys. Anyway, bedtime for me. By the way, so many ideas for the Chuunin exams I'm gonna have trouble fitting them all in…

Later.


	18. Justice? And Mysteries

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Manga or the Anime. This is the last chapter before the Heaven and Earth Bridge / Chuunin exam action starts. Not much else to say, so on we go…

Chapter 18: Justice? And Mysteries.

He prodded at his broken jaw and grimaced, looking at himself in the mirror next to the door. It had swollen up pretty badly.

"_That damn demon can sure as hell punch"_ he thought to himself, annoyed _"I guess I should expect that from the Kyuubi"_ he considered. Unfortunately for him the broken jaw didn't make up half of his problems.

"_I haven't been able to leave my own damn apartment…"_ he raged inwardly. But he knew that if he tried to get medical help in all likelihood he would be caught. The retribution for an attack on another Konoha ninja would be severe.

His thoughts again went over the events that had led up to his current predicament. That was what was making him most angry at the moment.

"_Weaknesses like that Hyuuga shouldn't be left alive, such a great family and such an abject failure" _he thought. His thoughts turned to her savior.

"_And that demon should have been disposed of long ago. Why have such stupid decisions been made in the running of this village? The Third, then the Fourth and now this Hokage too"_ he paused.

"_No wonder the last remnant of the great Uchiha family left Konoha to seek power; and from the only one of the three Sannin that left no less… We __have__ become weaker" _he told himself.

"Dammit I should be thanked for what I tried to do, not forced to run and hide" he muttered. He started to take another look in the mirror to check his jaw again.

There was a noise at the window. He was about to dismiss it when he suddenly felt the distinctive presence of another person.

He turned.

XXXXXXXXXX

Once again Tsunade was realising why Jiraiya had declined the job of Hokage. He preferred work that kept him on the move, where he could be doing. What she had been left with… It wasn't that she didn't like the job most of the time. The respect she got was great; a number of people really looked up to her. The need for her medical expertise also allowed her to feel she was still the best, and it was rewarding to see the results of her work on ninja like Sakura and Ino and the achievement of their goals as up and coming medical ninja. But… she massaged her temples roughly.

"_All this paperwork…"_ she thought tiredly. It drove her mad and it was never ending. Just when you thought that you were getting on top of it there would be a certain incident that distracted you from it that got you behind again, or one particular piece would end up occupying all your time. Or sometimes…

"_I just can't bring myself to do any more"_ Tsunade groaned inwardly, instinctively reaching for her sake bottle. She frowned as her hand hit air.

"Damn Shizune, confiscating it again" she muttered, pushing her chair back and putting her head under the desk.

"_There it is!"_ she thought triumphantly as her frown disappeared, spying the concealed compartment in the desk.

"_I would just __love__ Shizune to try and mess with a trap of this standard"_ she smiled to herself, reaching for the hidden seal affixed to the small area of the desk.

BANG! And Tsunade was thrown back in her seat, her face covered in black soot. Now her expression was as dark as her face, and it only got angrier as she wiped her eyes clean of the soot bending down to look in the small compartment. She fished out the slightly scorched note. On it was simply written:

'NO DRINKING AT WORK'. For some reason the words echoed in the blonde Hokage's head, and had Shizune's voice. Her expression stayed frozen for a few seconds, the woman taking the time to work out how to express her anger. She took a deep breath.

The door flew open as she began shouting, but that didn't stop her.

Shizune decided to wait until Tsunade's rant was over.

"_Trying to stop her now will probably result In another broken desk"_ she told herself. She noticed Tsunade had her eyes closed as she raged and realised that the blonde probably didn't even know she was there.

"_Maybe I should have __just__ taken the sake instead of setting a trap as a lesson…"_ she thought, wincing at some of the abuse hurled at her _"And leaving the note in there as well was probably going too far…"_ Shizune figured. Tsunade seemed to have finished, and was now breathing heavily. Shizune recoiled as her boss looked up.

"You…" she breathed menacingly, her face still covered in soot. Now was time to interrupt her, the black haired girl decided: i.e. the moment before she got violent.

"We've found Hinata's attacker" Shizune stated simply.

"_That's thrown her"_ she smiled to herself.

"Where is he?" Tsunade asked. Shizune paused, seeming to consider something.

"I think you need to see him yourself" she said. Tsunade gave her a questioning look.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Mmmm! That was great!" Naruto exclaimed as they walked back. He rubbed his stomach exaggeratedly, stuck it out and blew out his cheeks.

"Hey, do I look like Chouji at all Hinata?" he asked. Truth be told, he really had fun trying to make her laugh. One of the best things was that because she seemed to be always acting in a very proper manner she always tried to hide the fact she was laughing.

"_Like now"_ he thought, as she hid her giggle behind her hand. She shook her head.

"I-I think you would n-need to…" she paused, looking for the right words "…grow... a l-little bit" Naruto laughed.

"You're saying I'd need to be fatter huh?" Hinata's eyes widened.

"N-No, I didn't mean t-that…" she trailed off, unable to find the words. Naruto only grinned, and Hinata gave an embarrassed smile back. She wished she could stop blushing.

"_But I haven't fainted recently"_ she told herself, determined to stay positive. She had noticed it was so much easier to be confident around Naruto these days.

"_Well, in some ways"_ she considered. She definitely didn't have the confidence to confess to him yet, for one.

"_But right now I am happy to just be around you Naruto-kun"_ she thought, before taking a look around. They were now in the middle of the village, and it seemed a lot busier than normal.

They both stopped to observe everything properly. Foreign ninja seemed to be touring the village with the remaining time they had before the exam. Both Naruto and Hinata could easily see representatives from all the five main shinobi villages with ninjas from the smaller countries also mixed in. Something jostled for attention in Hinata's mind. As it came to her she tapped Naruto on the shoulder apprehensively. He turned to look at her.

"Huh? What is it Hinata?" he asked.

"Er, d-don't look now, but just b-by that dango stand-" as Naruto turned to look she realised she should have expected it from him.

"What is it?" he asked again. She paused, before deciding the size of the crowd was really too big for the people she was talking about to notice both her and Naruto looking at them.

"A-Aren't they the people Shikamaru-kun w-warned us about?" she enquired. Naruto frowned.

"Yeah…" he admitted "…well, two of them at least" he pointed out. Hinata only nodded.

"Wow, that guy is tall" he admitted "I guess Shikamaru was right about that at least, huh?" he shrugged.

"Oh well, we better go now" he said to the girl next to him "Long day tomorrow" he started to walk away, but stopped as Hinata stayed rooted to the spot. He walked back.

"Something wrong?" he asked, worried. Hinata shook her head.

"N-Not really… b-but…" she looked up at Naruto "Do you t-think I should…" she paused again and Naruto waited a little impatiently "…c-check them out? W-With Byakugan?" she finished. Naruto's eyes widened.

"Whoa Hinata, I never knew you were like that!" he exclaimed loudly. Hinata looked at him oddly, trying to work out what he meant. Once she did, her heart nearly stopped.

"N-No! N-Not l-like t-that!" she stuttered madly "I-I m-meant c-chakra r-reserves, w-weapons…" she tailed off. To her relief Naruto seemed to understand.

"Ohhh" he chuckled slightly. He looked at the two Rock ninja and smiled.

"That's a really good idea actually. Go ahead" he watched as her pale lavender eyes were surrounded by veins, signifying that her technique was activated. She started on the tall one first, missing the shorter girl for now.

"_After all, he is the one Shikamaru warned us about"_ she reasoned. Naruto's eyes remained on Hinata.

"So? What do you see?" he enquired. Hinata continued to look at the Rock ninja, but started to relay what she saw.

"H-He has reasonable chakra r-reserves" she told him "Larger t-than a normal ninja, but not h-huge" she scanned his entire chakra network.

"T-That's strange…" she murmured. Naruto frowned.

"What? what?" he asked. Hinata smiled slightly at his energy.

"H-His chakra network is w-well developed all over his b-body" she replied. Naruto shook his head.

"So what does that mean?" he asked her.

"I don't k-know" she admitted "But its n-not normal. H-Having your chakra network well d-developed around your stomach is unnecessary f-for example" she informed him. He shrugged.

"Okay. Anything else?" Hinata shook her head at his question, and moved on to the girl. She grimaced.

"You okay?" Naruto asked concernedly.

"I-It's really bright…" she replied "… why?" she murmured half to herself and half to Naruto. As she was about to look more closely she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I think they know someone's looking at them" the blonde warned her "They haven't seen us yet, but I think we need to go" he suggested. Hinata deactivated her bloodline technique and turned away. They both started to walk away, Hinata keeping him at a normal pace.

"S-Slow down Naruto-kun" she told him "Running people a-attract attention" he did as he was told, grinning slightly. She gave him a little smile back.

"So… what did you see for the girl?" Naruto wondered aloud. Hinata tried to arrange what she had observed of the girl in her head.

"T-There was a lot of chakra b-but…" she paused, not quite understanding what she had seen "…n-not all of it was flowing. I-In fact, most of it w-wasn't" she sighed.

"But t-that makes no s-sense" she said, evidently confused "Y-Your chakra only stops flowing w-when you're dead…" Naruto's eyes widened.

"She's dead?!" he exclaimed loudly. Hinata shook her head and laughed slightly.

"N-No, there w-was some flowing so she can't be. B-But it's still strange" she looked at Naruto sadly.

"I'm s-sorry; I didn't get a g-good enough look" she apologised, lowering her head. Naruto scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"It's not your fault" he told her "You don't need to apologise. We did get some information anyway, didn't we?" he smiled and Hinata nodded slowly.

"I guess it's just a mystery for us to solve" he grinned, brightening the mood again. His smile was infectious.

XXXXXXXXXX

Before they had left she had insisted that she be allowed to wash her face. If you had the ability to make yourself look younger you didn't waste it by keeping a load of soot on your face. She had also promised Shizune revenge, after this issue had been sorted out of course.

In the doorway Tsunade looked into the apartment. A masked ANBU member stood in the far corner of the room, and another ninja was stood in the other dark corner.

"Well, I see why you wanted me to come here now" she told her assistant "What do we know so far?" she asked.

Shizune stepped forward into the room, past the Hokage.

"Saga Keiji, owner of this apartment" She pointed downwards, by the door. Tsunade joined her.

"As you can see, dead. Stabbed in the heart. From what we can tell from the length and shape of the wound he was stabbed by a short sword" Shizune turned to Tsunade.

"We can be sure that his death was pretty quick. Obviously he can't have done this to himself because the weapon would have been left in him. The placement of the wound points only to assassination. It's the quickest and most efficient way to kill someone who is still able to defend themselves" Tsunade frowned. A figure stepped out of the corner of the room, trying to get into the conversation. It was Lee.

"Shouldn't there be more blood?" he asked.

"No" Tsunade answered "He was stabbed in the heart so the blood stops being pumped around" she took a look at the boy.

"What are you doing here?" she enquired. Lee stood to attention.

"I was walking down the street by this building when I heard a call for help. I felt I could not let such an obviously distressed citizen wait so I sprinted here, broke open the door, and found this" he finished. Tsunade frowned.

"So you found him?" she asked. He nodded.

"Who called for help?" she questioned Lee, but Shizune intervened.

"The neighbor heard a loud noise in here, we assume the body hitting the floor, and went to the door to see what had happened. Some blood from the corpse had made its way under the doorframe and she started screaming" she stopped.

"That's when I arrived" Lee stated proudly, pointing to himself. The blonde nodded.

"Okay Lee thank you, you may go. Though I may need you back for some questions on how you found him" she told the bushy eye browed boy.

"Hai!" Lee saluted enthusiastically before leaving. Tsunade turned back to the corpse.

"So, did he actually get to defend himself?" she asked. Shizune shook her head.

"No, there are no signs of a struggle. He did draw his knives, but never got to use them" she replied. Tsunade sighed. It definitely seemed to be the person who had attacked Hinata, she could easily see that his jaw was broken. It wasn't a fresh break either and from the swelling the Hokage estimated the break to have taken place…

"_Around the time of Hinata's attack"_ she deduced. Another thought came to her out of the blue.

"Well, we can be sure of one thing" she said nonchalantly "Naruto didn't do this" Shizune nodded and gave a grim smile

"We would have heard him if he had" she agreed. Tsunade's smile mirrored Shizune's.

"There would have been arms and legs missing too…" she indicated towards the body. Her expression then turned completely serious.

"This isn't the end of the investigation" she stated. Shizune nodded as Tsunade continued.

"He's been murdered; we need to know who killed him and why" she turned to her long time assistant "But you know… however angry I was, I wasn't intending to kill him… he would have been imprisoned, permanently…" she faced the body again and let out a breath. Shizune waited patiently.

"I am assigning another ANBU team to this case" she announced "I don't think this was the work of outside ninja but we need to confirm that" Shizune started scribbling notes.

"Once those investigations are completed then the two teams will combine to find the perpetrator of this crime" the black haired girl made an affirmative noise as she wrote.

"Finally, I want to know if this was the work of a single person or if it was organized by a group" Shizune looked up and raised her eyebrows.

"You think this could have been organized?" she asked. Tsunade shrugged.

"I don't know what to think, that's why I am ordering this investigation" she admitted.

"_It's a mystery I don't need. And I have a bad feeling about this…"_ she thought to herself apprehensively.

XXXXXXXXXX

As soon as they had got off the main streets Naruto had insisted they start running. And before Hinata could even begin to object he had set off, leaving her only the option of following him.

"_Still…"_ she thought to herself as she tailed the blonde ninja in front of her _"…this is fun"_.

She watched him leap to the rooftops and then spring off a wall to send himself round a corner. She followed suit and added a little speed. As she rounded the corner she noticed Naruto's head was turned a little, making sure that she was still behind him. It was a small thing but it made her feel good. After running for a little while the scenery started to become more and more familiar, and finally Naruto jumped down in front of the Hyuuga estate's main gates followed closely by the long haired girl.

Hinata straightened up from her crouched landing to see the spiky haired boy with a grin plastered on his face.

"Something wrong Hinata?" he asked her. She stepped back slightly, reverting to the usual nervous habit of finger twiddling.

"N-No… but…" she paused thinking back to the Rock ninja.

"…I don't t-think they noticed us Naruto-kun, I didn't think w-we needed to run. D-Did we?" she asked, worried. Naruto laughed.

"I know, we didn't" Hinata looked confused "I just felt like running off some energy" he explained. Hinata nodded, looking relieved. As she did so Naruto stretched slightly, managing to show off some of his stomach muscles to the indigo haired girl.

"Well, I better go" he told her as she found herself blushing "I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" she nodded dumbly.

"_I guess that's an 'okay, see you then'"_ Naruto thought to himself. He turned.

"Later then" he said, looking over his shoulder.

"Bye" Hinata managed quietly, forcing herself to say something.

Naruto smiled. Then he finally leapt away, back onto the rooftops.

XXXXXXXXXX

As he watched Naruto leave, Shino considered following him and talking to him. He decided against it.

"_Surprisingly, Naruto seems to have it covered pretty well. She seems well"_ he thought to himself.

"_If I talk to him now, it would only increase the chance that he would let something slip about… that"_ he reasoned. But something else had changed, and it was bugging him slightly.

"_There's a ninja watching Hinata. Possibly an ANBU operative"_ he thought. He had only just managed to detect that one, mainly through luck. He hadn't meant to, but now that he had he was sure there were others. After all they moved in the same numbers as normal teams didn't they?

"_That means there is at __least__ one more" _he told himself. So what had caused Hinata to be put under such surveillance? And ANBU reported directly to the Hokage, so what did that mean?

"_What is a mystery? Something to be solved"_ Shino asked himself rhetorically, moving from his position.

XXXXXXXXXX

Right. This actually took longer than I was planning. I'm gonna end up in essay panic AGAIN I just know it. Ah well, I think I'll be a day ahead of where I normally am so it shouldn't be too bad. Lots of questions to be answered, unfortunately for you all I've got some work to do so share some of my pain. Ha. Sorry, didn't mean it. By the way, does anyone draw anime characters here? If they do then check out my profile cos… well, read it through and you'll see. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, the next one will be about a week. Maybe a little more, maybe a little less.

Later.


	19. Sasori's Spy

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. Sorry bout the late update people, moved back home for Christmas about a week ago and still have Christmas shopping to do (I am aware of the fact it is Christmas eve…). I also had a little trouble writing this chapter. The problem with this bit is that I need to get it sorted out properly to avoid glaring plot holes later on. That's also part of the reason it's late, sorry. Anyway…

Chapter 19: Sasori's Spy

In the last few hours before midday Kiba, Sakura, Kakashi and Akamaru were all making the final preparations for their 'welcome' for the Akatsuki spy.

Firstly, exact details concerning the locations of the traps and their effects had to be made clear until all of them knew to the centimetre where they could tread safely. This had been started the day before, but now everything needed to be perfect.

Kakashi pointed to the sheet of paper Kiba had given him.

"So this here is a smoke trap?" he asked. Kiba nodded.

"And then behind that a flash-bang?" Kiba nodded again.

"They're far enough apart so the smoke won't stop them being blinded but close enough for the bang to probably rupture their eardrums" Kiba told him confidently. Kakashi silently recognised his statement and looked over at Sakura.

"Have you memorised them all?" he enquired. Sakura looked up.

"Oh… yeah. I was just looking for ways to get around them" she looked at Kiba who had a frown on his face. But Kakashi had made it perfectly clear to all of the others that as well as stopping the spy from escaping, in the case of something going wrong these traps would provide the only cover behind which they could make an escape.

"Okay, good" Kakashi acknowledged "You're getting more information than this spy will by knowing where these traps are, make use of this knowledge" he advised. Both the younger ninja refocused on the small diagrams in front of them.

After this had been talked through the next problem had been deciding the places they would hide in wait for the contact. Kiba maintained that he could keep a good distance from the bridge and avoid detection while still being able to sense the arrival of the spy though smell. Had Kakashi not been given a first hand demonstration of the young Chuunin's olfactory ability he might have asked for a demonstration, but he knew better. The problem seemed to be Sakura, who lacked both tracking and concealment abilities. Some of the little time they had left before taking positions would have to be spent solving this problem.

They split up, fanning out around the side of the bridge Sakura would be watching. Eventually a spot was located from which someone could view the bridge but not be seen from the path, behind a rock conveniently placed near the edge of the gorge.

"_It's really windy next to the gorge"_ Sakura thought, looking down over the edge. Shhe looked through the trees, trying to find the path. Satisfied the spot was well concealed, she looked over at the bridge.

"_I won't be able to hear a thing they're saying"_ she thought with disappointment. She would have to wait to know where Sasuke was, at least until after the spy had been captured. Once the site had been approved by Sakura it was time for the final preparations.

This last task was of course to make sure Kakashi's transformation was as accurate as possible in it's replication of Sasori, at least on the outside. The previous evening Sakura had found herself quizzed extensively over the visible weapons on Hiruko, to her surprise Kakashi even asking what some of the weapons did. The questions over his personality had made perfect sense to her though and she told her long time sensei everything she could remember, down to his last words in an attempt to allow the silver haired Jounin to replicate the dead Akatsuki member's persona. For some reason though, Kakashi had declined to test out his transformations until the morning before. Sakura had figured he wanted a proper test in the cold light of day, but the third member of the group knew the real reason.

"_He doesn't want to use more energy than necessary"_ Kiba told himself, wondering whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. He shrugged inwardly.

"_Like I said before, it's too late now…"_ he concentrated on the continuing conversation. They were on to the plan. Kiba leant forward as Kakashi began from the beginning.

"I will be on the bridge, transformed and waiting for the spy to arrive" Kakashi pointed at Kiba.

"You will be?" he asked. Kiba nodded.

"I will be on the far side of the bridge, a good distance away" he recited.

"If I sense the spy coming from my side I will follow at extreme range until they join you" he gestured towards Kakashi.

"If I don't sense the spy before noon I will make my way to the bridge, but carefully" he finished. Kakashi motioned for Sakura, who started immediately.

"I will be in position at the same time as Kakashi" she stated, not looking at either of the other two as if reading from a script inside her head.

"However due to the closeness of my position to the path I will stay as concealed as possible. If the spy comes from my side I will not move until they are safely on the bridge with Kakashi" she looked at the other two with a look of determination.

"Right" Kakashi agreed.

"Lastly, you will only move in at my signal. I maintain the disguise and keep this spy talking as long as possible to get as much information about Sasuke as I can. After that…" he paused slightly.

"If all goes as planned I should be able to surprise this person and knock them out quickly with the Sharingan. But this plan is designed to cover all the possibilities, we don't know if there are people with this spy or how powerful they are. You need to be concentrating fully on the mission the entire time, but more importantly we need to keep each other safe" he warned.

"The best way to do that is not to assume anything, to stay alert and to stay calm. Understood?" he got nods.

"Okay, let's split up then" he decided.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sakura was the first to get to her position overlooking the bridge, settling down and checking again that she was completely out of site of the path.

Satisfied, she turned back to the bridge and watched Kiba, Akamaru and Kakashi move across the bridge. Kakashi seemed to say something to Kiba, though as she had realised earlier she couldn't hear a thing over the wind.

Having nothing else to do the pink haired girl looked up to check the position of the sun.

"_We have about an hour"_ she calculated in her head.

"_That's still enough time for Kiba to get into the right position too"_ she told herself, relaxing slightly. As she did so her thoughts momentarily turned away from the task at hand.

"Where are you Sasuke-kun?" she breathed, wondering aloud. For the millionth time she speculated over how time would have changed him. She still thought of him as the boy who had left but by now…

"_He will have grown…"_ she smiled _"Just like Naruto has"_ though that was something of a shock. The fact the blonde was now taller than her was something she still had to get used to. But that wasn't the only thing that had changed about him.

"_It seems like he has matured"_ she thought to herself happily, though her thoughts quickly turned to the new 'sexy technique' he had developed. She frowned.

"_Though not in some areas…I guess that's what you get for being the student of a pervert"_ she grumbled inwardly. And then there were his social skills…

"_Hmph, I ask him if __I've__ matured and he goes and says I haven't changed a bit…"_ she thought, annoyed. But that was to be expected wasn't it? There are some things that are difficult to change in people she considered. Her thoughts turned back to Sasuke.

"_I wonder how he has changed…"_ she thought pensively. It wasn't the physical change though; it was a change in his personality that Sakura was most worried about.

"_What if Orochimaru has influenced him?"_ she asked herself, knowing that any influence the Sannin had would have been negative.

"_What if he's changed completely… what if…"_ she paled as her thoughts turned to the monster that Sasuke had turned into in the forest of death. The cursed seal had been the cause, what if he had turned into that? Her mind couldn't stop poring over the possibilities.

"_What if…?"_ she finally paused and stopped herself.

"_This isn't helping anyone"_ she realised, though she had gone through similar thoughts ever since he had left. It had to be the fact this mission was linked to Sasuke, it had to be. Finally her thoughts came full circle and back to the mission. Kakashi's words seemed to echo in her head.

"**Stay calm"** Sakura took a breath, remembering. Kakashi was right, they had to stay calm. That was why Naruto wasn't here wasn't it? He was never able to stay calm whenever Sasuke was brought up could he? She had to act professionally, get the information they needed and complete the mission and then think about this sort of thing. As she let the breath out, the stress that had seemed to accumulate seemed to lessen slightly.

She looked up again to check the time. To her shock there was only ten minutes before noon. She settled back down, and focused on the task ahead.

XXXXXXXXXX

On the bridge, Kakashi waited patiently for the spy to arrive. After the incident between Kiba and Sakura he had been worried that the entire structure of this temporary team would fall apart but from what he had seen things had been patched up, though that didn't necessarily mean that they saw eye to eye at all times.

"_Either way, Kiba's addition seems to have paid off so far"_ he thought, recalling the infiltration of the grass country. He also knew that Kiba would be an asset in combat, which he had technically known before.

"_But seeing people fight first hand is always better if you want to judge their capabilities yourself"_ he told himself. Thinking of Sakura and Kiba he decided to try and look for any sign of the two of them while he still had time. First was Sakura behind the rock on the edge of the gorge.

"_I can't really see her from this distance, she seems to be concealed well enough"_ he considered, before turning slightly to face the other side of the bridge.

"_No sign of Kiba at all…not bad"_ he paused, wondering how far Kiba had retreated along the edge of the gorge to avoid detection. However far it was, it would probably be enough.

Kakashi settled down, confident that the plan covered all the bases.

"_Just as long as there are no complications"_ he thought, hoping against hope that any fight wouldn't require the overuse of his Sharingan.

The moment that thought passed through his mind, he sensed movement from Kiba's side of the bridge. He readied himself for the task ahead.

"_Here we go…"_

XXXXXXXXXX

Kiba looked down at Akamaru and frowned. His long time companion was whining quietly, letting Kiba know something was wrong. But Kiba could sense something too.

"I've got the same feeling too" he whispered. But he was in the same position as Akamaru; he couldn't place the wrongness, or even tell why it was wrong…

"_But I have a bad feeling…"_ Kiba admitted to himself. He tried to lighten the situation slightly.

"Come on, whoever comes out here we'll kick their ass, right?" he asked as cheerfully as possible. Akamaru only continued whining quietly, not fooled by Kiba's bravado. Kiba frowned as Akamaru's head came up abruptly, and then turned towards Kiba. The team eight member nodded.

"I smell him too" he told the dog.

"But we wait until he's on the bridge before making a move, remember?" Kiba asked. But Akamaru didn't acknowledge this, and his head was quickly back in the air and sniffing inquisitively. Kiba sat silently and took a quick look into the sky.

"_Almost noon, nearly time to move out"_ he told himself, getting ready to lift himself onto his feet. His thoughts were interrupted by a low growl from Akamaru. Kiba's head whipped round.

"That's impossible!" he hissed "How on earth have we met this spy before?-" but he was cut off again by more information from the dog.

"I said that before? What do you mean? Before… when?" he asked in confusion. But as the rest of the story was related, the light dawned and Kiba's eyes widened.

"Him!?" he breathed, taking a few moments to digest the information. He swallowed.

"We've still got to follow the plan; we'll move in and surround him now, his identity doesn't change that" he told his companion beside him.

"_But it sure as hell changes how I feel about this"_ he added internally.

XXXXXXXXXX

The wind blew hard across the bridge, throwing leaves and billowing out the cloak of the hooded spy who had made his way across the bridge. Kakashi made sure he didn't turn as he was approached and as the man, he could now tell it was a man, stopped; he decided to ask the first question.

"Were you followed?" he asked, turning slightly in his unwieldy form.

The man stole a quick look around, then slowly pulled back his hood. Fortunately for Kakashi the form he was in was locked in a permanent expression, as he would have almost certainly given something away had it not been.

To his shock the hood had been pulled back to reveal a young man with greyish blue medium length hair and round glasses.

XXXXXXXXXX

Back on the edge of the ravine, Sakura was open mouthed.

"Of all the people…" she breathed.

"…_he would be the one I would have least expected"_ she thought in disbelief. But like her other team mates, she too realised that this could not change the way the mission would be run. Changes in plans caused unpredictability, and that caused accidents.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_Kabuto Yakushi…_ Kakashi thought, shocked.

"…_that makes things harder"_ he told himself. He frowned inwardly, already things had gotten complicated. Refocusing on the ninja in front of him, Kakashi stuck to the plan.

"No…I was careful" Kabuto replied, adjusting his glasses. Kakashi noticed he had hardly changed, all the way down to his mannerisms it seemed.

"I have some questions for you" the leaf Jounin stated, maintaining Sasori's grating voice. Kabuto nodded, but spoke again.

"I have little time, we will need to be quick" he advised "I am taking a big risk by coming here. I also feel a little odd due to the effects of the release of your technique" he admitted.

XXXXXXXXXX

From a few quick observations of the bridge, Kiba could tell that Kabuto was now on the bridge with Kakashi. Because of that he was able to make a quicker route to a spot nearer the end of the bridge, but there was something still on the edge of his senses and it still smelled wrong. Worse still, he couldn't tell what it was, or even where it was and his sense of unease grew as he drew closer and closer to the bridge.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Tell me what you know of Orochimaru and his hideouts, and Uchiha Sasuke" Kakashi rasped. Kabuto paused slightly before answering.

"There are a number of hideouts, and he switches between them every week" he replied, slowly. Kakashi let him continue at his own pace.

"The hideouts are within different countries as well of course" he explained "His spies move into unoccupied areas, make the location secure, and then he moves in. He is difficult to track" Kabuto confessed.

"Where is he now?" Kakashi asked.

"He has concealed himself on an island in a northern lake and will move in three days, Sasuke is with him" he answered. Kabuto looked as if he was going to ask a question of his own, but Kakashi made sure he got there first.

"Where is the next location?" he demanded, staying in character. To his surprise, Kabuto looked uncomfortable for a moment before regaining his usual composure. He put a finger to his glasses again.

"He will move east, about three days travel from the location he is at now" was the reply. He looked directly at Kakashi.

"About the task you entrusted to me…" he began, pausing slightly.

"_This conversation is entering dangerous territory now"_ Kakashi thought worriedly as Kabuto continued.

"…I could not gain samples of Orochimaru's cells" he declared with a sigh. Kakashi's mind raced to think of a suitable response.

"I see…" was all that he could come up with, allowing Kabuto another opening.

"But I am sorry, I have lingered here too long…if you give me that item, I will be on my way" he held out his hand towards Kakashi as the wind blew even harder across the bridge.

"_Damn! I can't ask any more questions"_ Kakashi realised, knowing that now he had run into a corner. He would have to try and capture the ninja standing in front of him.

"_Fortunately…"_ he thought _"…I have the element of surprise"_ and as that thought ran through his mind, he started to begin his movement.

What stopped him in his tracks was the sound of very familiar laughter that sent a chill down his spine and both Kakashi and Kabuto turned slowly towards the sound. The laughter continued to ring out, somehow echoing over the sound of the wind as if amplified somehow.

To Kakashi's horror, but not now to his surprise, from out of the trees stepped the snake Sannin himself. Across his face was a wide grin showing off abnormally lengthened canines that seemed to only accentuate the disturbing smile on his face. But as always it was his eyes that drew the attention of the people watching, the eyes that seemed to lack any trace of humanity, that didn't even seem human.

"_This is really bad"_ Kakashi thought to himself as Orochimaru approached, weighing up his options at lightning speed. The arrival of the Sannin made it even more apparent that a quick getaway was needed in this situation and for a brief second he contemplated giving the order to retreat.

"_But the mission was to capture the spy…and where's Kiba? He was meant to be on that side!"_ he thought quickly, and at that moment made his decision as Kabuto was still seemingly frozen.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sakura, watching from afar found herself in shock once again but this time the feeling was quickly replaced by anger and she found it a struggle to keep herself from leaping out to the aid of her sensei. All she needed now was the signal.

XXXXXXXXXX

Right. I think I know all the details of what's gonna happen here now so I just have to get it down. Sorry bout the wait everyone, Christmas will probably get in the way as well, like I said I still haven't bought all the presents I need to yet! Anyway, have a good one everyone!

Later.


	20. The Fight Begins

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. This chapter is mainly fighting, I like the way it's turned out to be honest. If anyone can second guess me about what's going to happen at the end of this fight I'll be impressed. Very impressed. Enjoy!

Chapter 20: The Fight on the Bridge of Heaven and Earth

The wind blew across the bridge, throwing leaves haphazardly across the bridge. The only noise other than that of the wind was the chilling laughter of the snake eyed former Leaf ninja who was casually approaching the bridge, though the bells on Kakashi's disguise were also ringing right next to his ear.

To Kakashi they sounded like alarm bells.

"_And the situation is dire enough now to justify them"_ he thought, tensing himself and readying to strike.

XXXXXXXXXX

Though he didn't recognise the new arrival, Kiba was frozen on the spot in a similar manner to the others.

"_He came from my side of the bridge…and I didn't notice a thing…"_ he told himself in shock. He sniffed the air again and his confusion grew.

"_That…wrong…smell earlier… was __him__?"_ he asked himself, now fully rattled. He tried to shake the feeling but the entire aura, and not just the smell given off by the newcomer was just…

"…_wrong…"_ he concluded to himself with an involuntary shiver. He forced himself to take his eyes off the man and transferred his gaze to the bridge. Now he was fully alert and waiting for the signal.

XXXXXXXXXX

Now that he had made the decision to strike, Kakashi executed his move with lightning speed. Taking advantage of Orochimaru distracting Kabuto, he first dispelled the technique disguising him. At the same time he lifted his forehead protector from his left eye, revealing the Sharingan right in front of Kabuto.

Immediately, the sound ninja realised what was about to happen and started to close his eyes, leaping away from the Leaf ninja as quickly as possible. Unfortunately for the gray-blue haired ninja he still managed to catch sight of the three spinning tamoe in Kakashi's left eye the moment before his eye closed and began to feel an almost inescapable drowsiness envelope him.

"_Kakashi!"_ he shouted inwardly in frustration. But the copy ninja's technique hadn't hit him fully, Kabuto realised; otherwise he would have been on the floor by now. He could still move, and was obviously still conscious.

"_I can still fight"_ he told himself as he flew through the air _"I'm just temporarily stunned"_ the sound ninja concluded, opening his eyes. He was about to receive another shock.

XXXXXXXXX

Concealed in her hiding place, Sakura witnessed Kakashi's transformation and a surge of adrenalin ran through her body.

"_The signal!"_ she told herself triumphantly, using both hands to pull herself over the rock behind which she was hiding. Taking another quick look at the bridge she noticed Kabuto had launched himself into the air.

"_Big mistake!"_ she screamed inwardly, accumulating chakra to her legs and launching herself from the position at maximum speed.

Though she never saw it, behind her, the rock she had been standing on had crumbled from the force of the jump.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kiba was caught slightly off guard by the sudden dispel of the copy ninja's disguise and had to make a quick decision.

"_Trap the newcomer, or move in front of him onto the bridge?"_ he asked himself, forcing himself to take a split second decision. He saw Kabuto in the air and went with the latter, Akamaru instinctively following him behind.

"_If we can capture the spy and cut him off from any support we can escape this new guy"_ Kiba thought to himself.

"_Can't we?"_ he asked himself, feeling an uncharacteristic bout of unease as he leapt through the air, the unknown that was the new arrival had shaken him. As he moved he saw Sakura blast from her position on the other side of the bridge.

XXXXXXXXXX

She had timed the jump perfectly. As Kabuto opened his eyes he saw the pink haired Kunoichi streaking towards him like an avenging angel, her fist sheathed in chakra, drawn backwards.

"Shannaro!" she screamed, throwing her arm forward.

The connection was heard over both the sound of the wind and the sound of the girl's shout and Kabuto was hurled backwards at incredible speed right across the gorge, his body travelling bullet-like due to the force of the punch. Sakura's team mates watched as the sound ninja was thrown to the far side of the bridge, his progress only stopped by a tree on the outskirts of the wood. As Kabuto hit the tree, it was broken in half by the force of the impact and the grey blue haired ninja fell face first into the ground, where he stayed.

Sakura landed in a crouched position next to Kakashi and breathed out carefully as she rose, flexing her black gloved fist. A fraction of a second later Kiba and Akamaru appeared in front of the other two Leaf ninja, facing the still grinning Orochimaru.

"We were supposed to keep the spy alive" Kiba hissed back at Sakura, while maintaining eye contact with the pale ninja in front of him.

"_But why is he still smiling?"_ Kiba asked himself as the man finally opened his mouth to speak.

"Kakashi-kun, I didn't expect to see you here" the former Sannin admitted calmly in his sing song voice. All three Leaf ninja kept their eyes on the man as Kakashi responded.

"And I didn't expect to see you here either Orochimaru" Kakashi conceded in a level tone. In front of him Kiba let out an involuntary gasp, finally learning the identity of the newcomer.

Orochimaru turned to face Sakura.

"A face I've already seen several times" he said, the smile on his face still not shifting as Sakura gave him an incredibly dark look. The snake Sannin turned to the final member of the Konoha team.

"And you are the boy who was walking his dog" he said to Kiba.

"Those traps you set were interesting, though a little childish" the long haired man paused slightly as Kiba's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I considered killing you" he admitted, showing off his teeth, though it was his snake like eyes that now morbidly drew Kiba's attention.

"But I think this will be more fun" Orochimaru finished. And as he did so, behind him, to the shock of the Konoha ninja, Kabuto stirred and lifted his head.

But their attention was again diverted by the man in front of them.

"I do have one question though, before we begin" Orochimaru stated in an amused tone, stepping forward. The Konoha ninja stepped back as one, each settling into a fighting stance.

"Where is Naruto-kun?" he asked interestedly. The Konoha ninja stayed silent.

"It would be interesting to see how much my Sasuke-kun has grown by pitting him against the container of the Kyuubi, don't you think?" he wondered aloud. He laughed at the expression of rage on Sakura's face, but it was Kiba who had been most affected by Orochimaru's offhand statement.

The boy ran through the conversation in his head again, making sure he had heard what he thought he had heard. He reached the same conclusion.

"_The container of the Kyuubi?"_ he thought to himself as more thoughts struck him.

"_The Kyuubi wasn't destroyed by the Fourth, it was sealed inside Naruto?"_ he asked himself. Suddenly certain things were starting to become clearer.

"_That's why all of us were kept away from him when we were younger…"_ but his thoughts were interrupted by movement behind Orochimaru. Miraculously, Kabuto was standing up and he too was settling into a battle stance.

"_But now isn't the time"_ he told himself, focusing chakra to his nose.

The next moment seemed to drag out forever, each ninja sizing the other up. Then everything happened at once.

With a shout Sakura leapt for Orochimaru, drawing her fist back and charging it with chakra. Behind her Kakashi began running, and produced three shuriken into his right hand and three to his left, anticipating Orochimaru's move.

As the snake Sannin leapt backwards to avoid Sakura's strike, he released snakes towards the airborne girl from his sleeves. For her part, Sakura twisted in mid-air managing to avoid all but one snake, which was then shredded by three shuriken just as it was about to strike. The other three shuriken were thrown at the source of the snakes, and in blocking them the remaining snakes were destroyed.

Now knowing she would now miss Orochimaru with her punch, Sakura compromised by throwing her punch downwards into the ground as she landed just beyond the edge of the bridge, sending a shockwave towards the newly risen Kabuto.

But Kiba had not been left standing either and both him and his companion had sprinted towards the glasses wearing ninja as Sakura and Kakashi had made their attacks. In one fluid movement Kiba drew out and flicked one soldier pill into the mouth of his furry companion, and another into his own, grinning as he watched the dog's fur began to redden.

"Shikyaku no Jutsu!" Kiba called out, dropping to all fours as his nails and teeth lengthened. Letting his more animalistic instincts take over, Kiba began to sprint towards Kabuto, with Akamaru right beside him. As Sakura's shockwave approached the sound ninja jumped back into the trees, and Kiba timed his leap perfectly with the sound ninja's and throwing himself into a spin as he did so.

"Tsuuga!" Kiba called as he span.

But just as he was about to be hit, Kabuto used a tree towards which he had jumped and threw himself around the side of it, missing Kiba's attack by inches as Kiba came out of his spin. Unfortunately for him, this had been planned for by the duo.

"Now Akamaru!" Kiba shouted triumphantly as he leapt off the side of another tree.

Purely on instinct, Kabuto began to jump again. But it was too late.

In much the same way as Kakshi had seen before, Akamaru tore straight through the trunk of the tree and Kabuto's left leg could not move fast enough. His leg was torn off at the knee as Akamaru's metallic fur shaved through both skin and bone as the dog span. Now unbalanced, Kabuto could do nothing to avoid the now returning Kiba, who punched him fully in the face, smashing his glasses and sending him down onto the forest floor with a sickening thud.

Kiba landed a little way away from the sound ninja, skidding in a crouched position, still on all fours. The other side of Kabuto, Akamaru landed with a heavy thud and roared at the sky. Kiba gave a feral smile.

"_Easier than I thought"_ he said to himself, sniffing the air and trying to place the rest of his team.

To his surprise his nose caught a completely different scent, and his body sent him into the air before he could even think, narrowly avoiding the arm swung in his direction from behind. He watched as the hand which had been directed at him sliced into the trunk of a tree, deeper than looked possible. But that wasn't his main concern.

Kiba's head whipped round, and he watched as the body he had left lying on the ground was suddenly surrounded by a cloud of smoke. His eyes widened as the smoke cleared and a corpse was revealed, still missing a leg, but patently not the sound ninja that he and his companion had attacked. He landed on a branch and heard a small laugh above the continuous sound of the wind. Though not quite as jarring as the laugh of the pale, older sound ninja, this was still chilling in its own way.

"Congratulations" Kabuto's voice rang out from a position Kiba couldn't see.

"You managed to destroy one of my creations, I'm impressed" Kabuto admitted with a smile that Kiba couldn't see "I guess you didn't notice I replaced myself with it when you missed me though. Still, you defeated it" the grey-blue haired ninja considered.

"It seems you have improved since we last met, if only a little" Kabuto taunted brightly. Kiba growled, his animalistic tendencies heightened by his technique. But each passing moment allowed him to better identify the location of the smug older ninja. Whether he was aware of this or not, Kabuto continued his taunting.

"I remember there was a girl you were with when we met, I healed her didn't I?" he asked rhetorically, pausing.

"Or did I?" Kabuto wondered aloud "Did you ever wonder whether I did anything to her?" Kabuto laughed slightly at Kiba's rising growl.

"I bet she would turn out to be a cute little creation" he suggested offhandedly, just within Kiba's earshot. And for Kiba, that was one step too far.

With a roar, Kiba threw himself off the branch he had been standing on and immediately into a spin, moving towards the source of the voice.

XXXXXXXXXX

Back at the bridge a second impasse had been reached, neither side moving from their positions since Kabuto and Kiba had left the clearing. Sakura had risen from her previous position after having struck the ground with her fist and was standing in a small crater created by the punch, a fault line running from where she was standing into the trees. And though none could see it, the bridge was also starting to look the worse for wear, as a large crack was running along the bottom of it for about a quarter of its length.

Opposite the two Konoha ninja, Orochimaru laughed.

"It seems we have the apprentice of Tsunade with us today" he chuckled. He looked appraisingly at Kakashi.

"I expect you to have improved as well" he told the silver haired Jounin. Kakashi didn't respond. Orochimaru looked unruffled.

"The pleasantries are over then?" he asked, almost to himself.

"Pity…" he muttered with a grin, as Sakura began a second charge.

Nonchalantly, the snake Sannin dodged each and every blow that Sakura aimed at him, the smile still on his face. The smile remained as the girl leapt backwards and Kakashi entered the fray. This time, Orochimaru found himself forced into blocking as well as dodging the attacks, the infamous Sharingan aided Jounin providing more of a challenge.

Suddenly out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the flying approach of Sakura returning from the outskirts of the trees and leapt backwards over the girl, whose chakra coated fist continued and careened into the still standing Kakashi. The pale, long haired ninja grinned as the surprised expression on the face of the Jounin exploded into pieces of rock which were sent flying over the edge of the cliff.

A few metres from the previous position of the earth clone, Kakashi burst out of the ground and settled again, fixing Orochimaru with the gaze of the Sharingan.

"As expected of the copy ninja…" Orochimaru grinned, showing off his teeth.

"…But now I think it's my turn" he finished. And with that, the robed figure rammed his hands into the ground. The ground around the man buckled and shook and both Sakura and Kakashi shared a quick glance, before simultaneously leaping into the air.

What followed in their wake split the ground with the number of holes they created. Sakura's eyes widened in horror as hundreds of snakes came flying from the ground and into the air, but her survival instinct quickly kicked in. Arching her back, and moving side on to the wave of snakes, Sakura reduced the area she had to defend. At the same time, shuriken appeared in her hands and the young Kunoichi waited until the last second before she released them into the wriggling mass.

"_Thank you Chiyo"_ she thought, having drawn from the experience of their joint fight with Sasori.

Kakashi, also airborne, had already deduced what had been about to appear and had released three explosive kunai into the throng of rising snakes, giving himself enough room to fall back down towards the holes created by the snakes. He watched as Sakura released the shuriken she had drawn into the snakes rising immediately below her and then calmly twisted into the gap she had created, the snakes around her feverishly squirming in the air and biting nothing. Now concentrating on his attack, Kakashi sped through a few hand seals, ending on tiger.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" Kakashi shouted, throwing the giant fireball down the holes created by the snakes. A little way off, Orochimaru stood back calmly from the holes his hands had created as white hot flames burst from them, burning some of the leaves that were still being thrown through the air.

However, the snake Sannin had little time to muse as Sakura was now turning defense into attack. Having successfully dodged the snakes, Sakura's fist again impacted on the ground and this time split the earth around her, throwing rocks into the air from the force of the punch as well as sending the pale man another shockwave. Again missed by the fighting ninjas, the crack across the bridge increased to span half its length, pieces falling off of it as it sagged in the middle by a few unnoticeable inches.

Continuing her attack with a few swift movements, Sakura threw a series of punches at the rocks she had caused to rise, sending them hurtling in quick succession one after the other toward the grinning sound leader at incredible speeds. As she readied the last punch, the final rock held something special from the green eyed girl; an explosive note, placed the moment before the rock was sent by her chakra powered fist.

A little way away, finishing the last of the falling snakes with another few well placed explosive kunai, Kakashi observed the effect of Sakura's attack. He barely concealed his surprise as the last rock, knocked aside casually by the smiling Orochimaru, detonated not an inch from the man's head.

"Take that!" Sakura shouted triumphantly at the cloud of dust that had risen from the explosion. But her victory was short lived, and as the smoke cleared, a quivering bloody mess of snakes shaped like the lower half of a man slumped to the floor. Once again, chilling laughter rang out above the sound of the wind.

"Take what?" Orochimaru asked amusedly of the girl as he seemingly morphed from the side of a tree.

As the grinning man appeared the ground shook again and Kakashi watched, jumping again as the area around where he had just been standing was suddenly surrounded by four neat holes, as snakes whipped up to catch the area where his limbs had just been. His head whipped round to identify Sakura's location, but this time the pink haired girl had been left flat footed, not moving quickly enough to dodge.

Two snakes had intertwined themselves around each of her legs, and two more had caught her arms, preventing her movement. All of the snakes, now that they had found their target, were squeezing tightly around her limbs, slowly and painfully crushing her bones.

Kakashi acted quickly, drawing and throwing two kunai in one fluid movement and with precise accuracy finding the heads of the snakes attached to Sakura's arms. Sickening thuds greeted her ears as each kunai struck, but now freed slightly; the young Kunoichi utilized all of her brute strength and lowered her arms to her ankles, grabbing the snakes at her legs and ripping them from the ground, the force of the pull tearing each of the snakes into two bloody halves. Then, with the added momentum pushing her forwards, Sakura went on the offensive again.

This time, as the pink haired girl ran towards the ex-Konoha ninja she stamped down hard with her heel during her approach, simultaneously delivering a burst of chakra into the ground. But the young medical ninja didn't stop there. Releasing as many explosive kunai as she could into the area above Orochimaru, Sakura attempted to keep the snake Sannin from avoiding the shockwave sent by her stamp. She shielded her eyes as the kunai exploded in the air, and Sakura had to dodge quickly as pieces of hot metal flew at her from the resulting explosion.

Suddenly the medical Kunoichi realised she had taken her eyes off of the man and internally berated herself as she closed the distance between them. To her surprise it seemed that the person in front of her hadn't moved at all, and on top of that was still completely unharmed. But that didn't change her plan of action, as her fist came swinging around again towards the still grinning ninja.

With less than a second until her fist connected, almost too late, she saw his mouth open and a snake emerge from it, its mouth also widened. With lightning speed Sakura went through the hand signs necessary for a replacement and then watched from the edge of the clearing as the log she had switched places with was sliced in half by a sword protruding from the snake's mouth.

It was the next few events that Sakura's eyes were almost too slow to follow.

Behind where she had originally been, Kakashi had executed his one and only original technique, and in less than a heartbeat had managed to reach the sliced log, blast the two pieces aside, and then continue his charge towards Orochimaru.

"Raikiri!" Kakashi shouted above the noise of a thousand chirping birds, thrusting his arm forwards at quite literally lightning speed. Once again Sakura had to shield her eyes, protecting them from the blinding light of Kakashi's technique.

When she opened them again she almost thought that after images were affecting her sight.

In front of her, Orochimaru stood completely unaffected, holding a sword between his two hands.

But it was Kakashi who drew her attention. His right hand, which had been sheathed in the most heavily concentrated chakra was a bloody mess. Sakura's head whipped back to the snake Sannin holding the sword.

"_The blade didn't receive a scratch!"_ she observed, the shock written all over her face.

Standing between the two Konoha ninja, Orochimaru laughed.

"Your technique may be able to cut through lightning…" he chuckled, raising his blade "…but my Kusanagi can cut through anything". The sound leader put a hand to his forehead.

"I expected better of you" Orochimaru admitted to Kakashi with a rueful grin. Kakashi tried to maintain a neutral expression, but it was getting a lot harder. On top of the pain, the use of the Sharingan to execute the Raikiri, as well as the earlier hand to hand combat had exerted another strain on a body that was beginning to show signs of weakness. He fixed the snake Sannin with a cold stare and forced himself to stay calm as the man continued.

"To use a technique you taught to my Sasuke-kun against me…" he sighed "…you obviously haven't improved at all…you are less interesting than I thought" he informed the silver haired Jounin. Kakashi felt his spine chill at the realisation of what those words meant.

"_We need to get out of here"_

XXXXXXXXXX

Next chapter up soon, I promise. I'm writing it already. Can anyone guess what's gonna happen by the way? Bet you can't. Anyway, gonna get back to it.

Later.


	21. From Bad to Worse

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. Shippuuden's back soon! They left us hanging a little… grr. I'm doing my best not to leave you hanging though. Enjoy!

Chapter 21: From Bad to Worse

The tranquil peace that had surrounded the bridge of heaven and earth less than half an hour ago was now truly destroyed by the fighting that had broken out. Already the very earth had been shaken by the power of the assorted ninja, the ground cracked and broken and a number of trees felled.

Kabuto smiled to himself as yet another tree collapsed a little way away, its thick trunk sporting a large hole in the middle. He could feel its impact on the ground quite clearly.

"_I wonder how long I should keep this going" _the grey blue haired ninja thought disinterestedly, activating his large chakra scalpels he used as weapons at the approach of the dog and boy. It wouldn't be long until he was found, even with the scent distractions he had set. He reviewed his wounds.

"_I used quite a bit of chakra to heal myself after that punch"_ he considered, remembering the combination Kakashi and Sakura had pulled on him with a rueful grin.

"_I should avoid using too much energy on this one"_ he thought to himself. The decision made, he stopped channelling chakra to his hands and whipped out a small scroll from his pocket, unfurling it away from himself with a flourish. On it were hundreds of symbols written in black ink, which never seemed to repeat themselves.

"Ninpo: Angunahitobito (1)" Kabuto murmured.

As the words left his lips the symbols on the scroll began to coalesce into a number of black shapes. In a few short seconds the shapes had started to expand on the paper, and Kabuto stepped back as a jet black foot emerged from the scroll. The first foot was soon followed by another, before a second and then third set of legs emerged from the white parchment in the sound ninja's hands. The first set of legs bent at the knees, allowing an equally dark torso to slip out, soon followed by arms and a bald, black head.

As the other bodies copied the movements of the first, the now fully formed dark person seemed to shape shift, as if something was writhing underneath its skin. At the same time its shadowy skin seemed to brighten and gain texture, filling out in certain places. Clothes seemed to warp from it, and the colour of the entire body seemed to start to resemble something human. Its skin was getting pinker, its hair was growing out of its scalp and that too was changing colour. As it finished its transformation, its four companions were halfway through each of theirs, each morphing from the original dark template and into completely different looking people.

However, they all currently had three things in common. They were all ninja, evident from the faded hitai-ate on each of their foreheads, though not all of them held the same village symbol. All five were also still crouched down on their haunches, their heads bowed and their arms hanging limply by their sides. The third similarity was the trick to Kabuto's technique. They were all dead. Their skin was a pale hue resulting from the fact that blood no longer ran through their veins. Their clothing was also ripped in certain places, and those places had bloodstains ringing them, marking the entry of some sort of sharp implement into the skin of the long dead cadaver. But it was the eyes that most obviously revealed their soulless state. Unseeing, faded to a disturbing milky white, and in one case entirely removed, the eyes of the five summoned bodies informed the beholder that some ungodly act had taken place to re-animate these walking corpses. Kabuto smiled, adjusting his glasses.

"_With luck I won't have to fight at all"_ he thought to himself.

XXXXXXXXXX

Now less than fifty metres away, Kiba had finally located the sound ninja, his blood still boiling. But by now, though he was still angry and in his more animalistic state, he was beginning to think again. He knew he had been distracted…

"_But why?"_ he asked himself. His question was answered immediately, by both his eyes and nose. The stench of death hit him immediately and strongly, and affected him more that the ungodly sight that was approaching. But there was no time for revulsion, even if it did make him physically sick.

Leaping forwards and beginning his spin, Kiba took the initiative back, causing the un-dead ninja to scatter. As he came out of his spin he landed perfectly, but was now surrounded by the five summoned ninja. Kiba weighed up his options.

"_Should I send Akamaru after that glasses freak?"_ he wondered, a split second before another attack was launched. This time, he wasn't able to start his spin fast enough and so had to resort to his backup plan to avoid the attacks, his nose.

In an instant he knew he had made a mistake, as the first corpse ninja swung a sword at him. He dodged to the left, but barely made it, and a split second later he had to duck to avoid the second attack as three battered but sharp kunai sped at him. The third attack seemed to be synchronised with the rest, an eyeless ninja aiming a kick at his face which he was only able to parry.

"_They're __dead!__"_ he screamed to himself in frustration as he did so _"…of course their movements will be different to living people!"_ but he didn't have time to think for much longer than that.

Kiba had left himself open to the fourth member of the group, and despite its sightless eyes this attacker was perfectly aimed to scratch him across the face with its blackened fingernails. Using the momentum given him by the parry, Kiba attempted to shift his head out of the way. But the attack was too fast and too well organised, and the blow glanced him across the left cheek, throwing him backward and opening a deep cut on his face, bisecting the usual trademark red slash that was there. Kiba winced in pain, and flying through the air he spied the final member of the soulless group, coming in for the kill. Kiba closed his eyes; there was nothing he could do but hope…

His faith was rewarded by the roar of a spinning white animal that threw itself into the last of the charging bodies. In a futile attempt at self preservation, the figure raised an arm only to have it torn off, the rest of the body being thrown to the floor like a rag doll.

Kiba landed, albeit slightly heavily, onto the forest floor and gave a grin.

"Thanks buddy" he murmured to his white companion.

Akamaru planted himself in front of Kiba protectively and gave a roar of defiance to anyone attempting to harm his friend, whether living or dead. Kiba nodded, getting fired up again, and he wiped the blood from his cheek with the back of his hand.

"_Screw any other plans, I need Akamaru alongside me"_ he told himself with grim determination. He noted the now one armed ninja rise to its feet and Akamaru growled to him. Kiba nodded.

"Take out the legs if possible, got it" he acknowledged, readying himself for another attack. He wouldn't be caught off guard again, the Tsuuga was the best form of attack and defence, and while he was spinning they were both incredibly difficult to harm. They would also cover each other the way they always did, in this situation, it was stick with what you know.

"Here we go Akamaru!" Kiba shouted as he dropped down to all fours and started running forward, his team mate right beside him. In an unspoken agreement, both of them headed for the fifth un-dead ninja missing an arm, then immediately found themselves surrounded, shuriken thrown at them from five different directions. Kiba smiled to himself as he used his increased speed to weave his way around the projectiles and continued his charge towards the injured enemy which was now moving backwards. He was leaving Akamaru behind, but Kiba knew exactly what his companion would do.

"Akamaru! Dynamic Marking!" Kiba called backwards, the very moment the dog leapt into the air. Dodging most of the shuriken thrown at him, the rest were flung away by Akamaru's metallic hide as he span in the air. Simultaneously, the white furred team eight member marked four of the five corpses with his acidic discharge, the areas that he hit beginning to smoke as the rotten flesh of the soulless creatures began to dissolve.

But Akamaru hadn't finished yet. Again exhibiting a move that Kakashi and Sakura had previously been privy to, the large dog now chose to release some of the spiky fur that lined his hide. His still spinning body threw the needle like hairs at incredible speeds and Akamaru released as many of them as possible towards the points that had just been hit by the acidic urine, allowing the corrosive liquid to penetrate the insides of the corpses. As the white dog stopped his spin and dropped to the ground the corpse that had been nearest collapsed from the inside, falling into a mushy pile filled with needles. It had absorbed far too much punishment to allow it to continue fighting. Again Akamaru roared his defiance at the ones left standing, before jumping away to join his team mate.

Now way out in front of Akamaru, Kiba was now concentrating on his task. He dimly realised he was moving towards the outskirts of the forest again, and then heard the strangely comforting roar of his friend.

"Tsuuga!" he shouted, throwing himself into a spin. As he did so the corpse raised a weapon with its one good arm but Kiba was too quick for it, using two trees to change his direction and attack from behind. This time he came closer, and knocked the deceased ninja off balance.

"_Now!"_ Kiba yelled inwardly. Coming out of his spin, he allowed his right hand to smoothly draw an explosive kunai. Releasing it as his arm extended, his aim turned out to be perfect and the carcass detonated as the kunai buried itself deeply in the decomposed tissue of the dead ninja's chest. Revelling in his victory, Kiba twisted in the air and at the same moment, Akamaru burst from the trees, Kiba landing on his back in a perfectly synchronised movement.

"How many did you get Akamaru!?" Kiba shouted, adrenalin still pumping through his body. The dog gave an equally excited bark back and Kiba patted him proudly on the head.

The moment was broken within seconds, as a blinding blue light penetrated the trees, followed by a large explosion. Akamaru sped up; he didn't need to be told. A moment later, they burst through the trees and into the clearing.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sensing movement Sakura's head whipped around, her gaze shifting from Kakashi's injured form. To her relief Kiba was safe and well, though to her surprise riding on the back of his dog and as the two of them landed, skidding slightly due to their combined weight and speed, she turned back to the snake Sannin and the injured Kakashi in front of her.

Something didn't seem right…

"_Kakashi-sensei…"_ she thought worriedly, looking at his bloody hand.

Kiba was also shocked by the state Kakashi was in, though admittedly less so than Sakura. In fact, he was more angry than anything else.

"_I __knew__ he was too tired!"_ he raged. And Kiba knew that Kakashi was still pulling off an amazing feat by looking only as bad as he did. His nose was telling him that the Jounin was one small step from collapse.

So when the silver haired man gave the signal to attack, Kiba almost disobeyed.

What stopped him was the ultimate faith Sakura put in her long-time sensei, throwing herself forward without question. Kiba followed behind, catching up a second later due to his sheer speed. For his part, Akamaru leapt into the air, before returning back down to earth and tunnelling underneath the ground, toward the still standing figure of Orochimaru.

Unfortunately for them all, Orochimaru had become bored, and that very feeling was written all over his pale face. Kiba was the first to reach the snake eyed man, but was met by the flashing blade of Kusanagi and though he managed to avoid the deadly thrust that had been almost lazily directed at him the sword still managed to catch his left leg, eliciting a spurt of blood from the wound it opened.

Sakura arrived next, using the fact that Kiba had already directed the deadly blade away from her. Her blow however, was dodged by the pale man who knew first hand the sheer power of a Tsunade punch. With surprising grace he span around, his sword following in an arc and Sakura was forced to leap to safety to avoid Orochimaru's retaliation.

As she did so the sword wielding man casually bent onto one knee and bit his thumb, before placing his left hand to the floor. The earth shook, and leaves fell from the trees, which were then captured by the wind. Moments later Akamaru burst from the ground and landed next to the bleeding Kiba, his burrowing somehow stopped by the powerful Sannin. With a grin, Orochimaru looked into the eyes of Kakashi.

Who stared straight back.

"Mangekyo Sharingan!" Kakashi murmured to himself, revealing the black shape within his blood red eye.

As he did so, a black hole seemed to appear to Orochimaru's left, warping the space around it and causing the wind that had been blowing across the now damaged bridge to flow into the dimensional rift caused by the copy ninja's Sharingan.

To the shock of the snake Sannin, his entire left arm was being sucked into the vortex. He had no doubt what would happen should his entire body be targeted by Kakashi's new technique. With lightning speed and his earlier bored expression now completely gone, Orochimaru released snakes from his right-hand sleeve which instantly wrapped themselves around the nearest tree and began to pull the pale man away.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was desperately trying to keep his technique active long enough to do at least some damage to the ex-Konoha ninja. Redirecting the technique was out of the question, and he raged at his body to allow him to continue.

Observing the tug of war, both Sakura and Kiba realised that this was Kakashi's last throw of the dice and acted accordingly, both throwing every explosive kunai they could at the struggling figure caught in the dimensional rift, aiming to destroy the snakes pulling the pale man to safety, as well as the man himself.

As they did so, to their horror, two figures burst out of the forest and intercepted each and every one of the kunai, not only with weapons of their own but with their own bodies, blowing themselves apart in the process. The ensuing smoke obscured their view of the action, and both Kiba and Sakura waited with baited breath as the two figures came back into view.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Now that is more like what I expected of you Kakashi-kun" Orochimaru grinned, now standing next to the tree his snake had been anchored to.

But the Konoha ninja couldn't believe what they were seeing. Despite having his left arm torn off at the shoulder, Orochimaru was still smiling. Beside Kiba, Akamaru gave a warning growl and Kiba looked into the trees.

Kabuto smiled as he stepped out.

"Impressive Kakashi-sempai. Your mastery of the Sharingan is growing" he observed good naturedly. Kakashi didn't say a word, his Sharingan eye was now firmly closed and his body was reaching the point where even standing would be a problem within the next few minutes. Kabuto shrugged at the copy ninja's lack of response and turned to Kiba.

"I'd be careful of those cuts, getting an infection from a corpse wouldn't be good would it?" he asked.

"Who knows what they could be carrying?" the medical ninja observed, adjusting his glasses dispassionately. Suddenly Kiba felt a lot more worried about the cut on his cheek than he had been before. Evidently Kabuto wasn't in the least fazed by the fact that all of his corpse ninja, including the one he had replaced himself with, had been destroyed. But what came next diverted his attention away from even that.

Standing next to the tree, Orochimaru had suddenly made a loud choking noise and for a moment it looked as if Kakashi's technique had done more damage than it appeared. That was, until the snake Sannin's teeth seemed to prise open, and he looked straight into the air, his eyes oddly sightless. The Konoha ninja were now transfixed by this disgusting sight, and stayed frozen in place as two hands reached out of the gaping maw and stretched the opening even wider. Sakura and Kiba had to suppress a shiver, and Akamaru whined, as out of the yawning mouth rose Orochimaru, covered in a sticky, translucent slime, as if he had simply shed his body like a snake.

"Unfortunately, Kakashi-kun…" Orochimaru started as he stepped out of the used husk "…that wasn't quite enough" he finished.

It was at that time Kakashi's body finally gave up. The Jounin silently crumbled, falling first to his knees, and then backwards to the floor in exhaustion, the dark veil of unconsciousness ensnaring him before he reached the ground.

With a shout, Sakura ran to the aid of the Jounin, followed closely by Kiba and Akamaru. Both the team eight members were wary of any attacks from the two sound ninja standing a little way off, but were surprised as well as relieved when no such attack came.

Sakura bent down to the prostrate Kakashi and examined him quickly. She swore under her breath and turned to Kiba.

"He's not getting up. Not for ages" she murmured, swearing again and checking over Kakashi. Beside her Kiba brushed the still bleeding cut on his face. It was really beginning to sting. He was surprised; his next few words seemed to come from far away, as if they didn't come from his own mouth.

"Get out of here" he stated flatly, looking at Orochimaru and Kabuto who had still not moved. Sakura's head whipped around.

"What do you mean 'get out of here'?" she asked angrily.

"Get Kakashi out of here! We'll cover the two of you" he insisted. Sakura shook her head.

"Against those two? I'm not just leaving you behind!" she told him heatedly.

"Don't be stupid!" he snapped back "How would you rate our chances if we both took them on?" he asked. Sakura stopped, taking a quick look at the two still stationary sound ninja.

"Besides…" Kiba went on "…I have a backup plan" he confided, his eyes flickering over to the gorge. Sakura guessed what he meant instantly and her eyes widened.

But her protests were cut short as Kabuto launched himself toward them, activating the chakra scalpels on his hands. Kiba and Akamaru threw themselves forward at the same time, each going into a spin trying to ward off the attacking sound ninja.

Sakura was left with no choice; tragically, she knew he was right and she had to run. Cursing herself, the pink haired girl hoisted the unconscious Jounin onto her shoulder and began running back across the bridge, watching her back to guard against possible attacks from the pale man still standing next to the tree. Once across, she turned back around and willed the other two to cross the bridge as well.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kiba noticed Sakura had made it across the bridge, mercifully unmolested. But by now Kabuto had worked out when the two of them were vulnerable, and he finally found an opening. As Akamaru and Kiba came out of their respective spins for yet another time, Kabuto struck, hitting each of them in the calves and severing the muscle, causing them to drop to the floor heavily with pain shooting through their legs.

Kabuto stepped forwards with a smile and at that moment Kiba knew what he had to do. Leaping onto Akamaru's back before Kabuto could react he flashed through a few hand signs.

"Jinjū Konbi Henge: Sōtōrō (2)" he shouted, before the two of them were engulfed in a cloud of white smoke.

To his surprise, Kabuto was forced to step back as a huge two headed wolf appeared out of the smoke. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't quick enough and a giant paw batted him away before he could retreat to a safe distance. Now seeing the opportunity, the Kiba/Akamaru combination took its chance, leaping towards the bridge and at that moment Sakura's heart leapt. The snake Sannin still hadn't moved from his spot and was observing the battle with lazy amusement.

"_He's going to make it!"_ she said to herself, hope rising in her chest.

But at that moment, there was a massive crash.

Right in front of the two headed wolf that was Kiba and Akamaru, a gigantic snake burst out of the side wall of the gorge and landed on the other side of the bridge with a menacing thud, preventing their passage.

Unfortunately, again unbeknownst to all of the fighting ninja, the fault line that had been running for over half the length of the bridge now increased to span its entire length. Even worse, the steel cables running through the bridge's structure had now been snapped on both sides by the snakes landing, and only friction was keeping the heavy bridge from falling into the ravine below.

The head that was Akamaru growled at Kiba mid-flight.

"_This is what stopped you burrowing earlier? It was waiting all this time!"_ Kiba realised. They landed on the bridge heavily, stopping themselves just in front of the giant snake's mouth.

And that was all that it took.

The already damaged bridge couldn't take any more. Now split for its entire length by the various attacks that had bombarded it earlier, the combined weight of the two headed wolf and the huge snake caused the bridge to begin its inevitable slide downward.

Desperately, Kiba tried to jump from the falling structure, but found his path blocked by the snake now thrusting its head down and into the area he and Akamaru were standing on. Once again feeling the effects of Kabuto's technique and the sword slash from earlier, the only thing that saved the two of them from being crushed was the fact that at that moment the bridge tipped sideways, causing the snake to smash into the falling bridge rather than the two companions. Sakura watched in horror as they were both knocked unconscious, and then deposited over the edge and down towards the water below.

There was a dull thump, and the girl recognised the sound of muted explosions.

"_Kakashi's traps!"_ she realised, in shock. She glanced at the unconscious Jounin and realised what Kiba and Akamaru had just done for the two of them. Quickly wiping her now streaming eyes, Sakura lifted Kakashi to her shoulder, and fled the scene.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kabuto looked over the edge of the ravine as the last of the bridge fell into the water. He felt Orochimaru's presence by him.

"Interesting" the grey blue haired ninja observed with a small smile. He turned away from the edge and towards his pale master.

"Should we follow them?" he asked. The snake Sannin laughed.

"No…They will bring back Naruto-kun…" he answered. He continued looking down into the ravine as Kabuto asked a question.

"You want them to find us?" he inquired with a frown.

"I want to see how my Sasuke-kun has improved" the snake eyed man replied with a smile.

XXXXXXXXXX

(1) Ninja technique: Dark Souls. As far as I know this is a literal translation. Go me. Hehe.

(2) Man Beast Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf. As seen before in the manga and anime.

Bring it on huh? Take this! If you're wondering what the hell I'm on about I'm speaking directly to Behan who gives me wonderfully long reviews. I didn't think I'd get this out tonight cos I was struggling but now… Well anyways, thank her for this.

Either way, what did you guys think?

There'll be a little break now; I've got stuff coming up, my brother's birthday for one. However, now that I've finished this part of the story it means we're back to the Chuunin exams! This is what I've been waiting to write for AGES, but I wanted to get this stuff down first, obviously. I'm fired up as hell for the next bit, don't worry about that. Oh, and if you don't like cliff-hangers like the one I've just left… errr… tough? Like I've said a number of times, all will eventually be revealed. Hehe (not much of an evil laugh I know).

Later.


	22. The Chuunin Exams

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. Righty, I'm back. This is a bit random but anyone who liked Kanon or Air should check out Clannad, I'm saying this because I finally managed to get hold of Dango Daikazoku (the ending theme to the Clannad anime) and I thought I'd share. Incidentally I also downloaded as much of the Naruto soundtrack as I could, it's great. Not much else to say right now so… enjoy!

Chapter 22: The Chuunin Exams

The sun rose ponderously over the horizon, bathing the hidden village of Konoha in early morning light as it made its way across the sky. The streets were still largely deserted, and the last of an unusual early morning mist was being burned away which slowly changed the scenery from an all pervasive grey to a multitude of different colours.

The dramatic spectacle was unfortunately missed by the sleeping form of a blonde haired boy, who a little while later turned over in his sleep, trying to find a more comfortable position. However, in turning over he turned right into the powerful rays of the sun streaming through his bedroom window.

Naruto scrunched up his eyes and gave a long, drawn out groan, now awakened. Not shielding himself he opened his blue eyes slowly and blinked in the bright light. Sitting up, he took in the view from his elevated apartment and smiled. Though it was a small space for living in, he could look out at the village from here. He tore his gaze away.

"_What's the time?"_ he asked himself, reaching for the clock by his bedside. Placing it in front of his face, Naruto sluggishly interpreted the numbers, still tired. It took him time to interpret the meaning of those numbers, but when he did so…

"I'm late!" he shouted, leaping out of bed.

XXXXXXXXXX

For her part, Hinata had been up for hours, though she too had missed the sunrise. After completing her usual tasks, waking the rest of the family, making the morning meal and doing some light exercise she now had little to do. The first exam was due to start at midday, according to the notices given to each of the applicants, and Hinata wondered if she should have done any more preparation.

"_There's nothing more to do now"_ she told herself, trying to dismiss the thought. She would just have to take the exam as it came.

She looked around the Her thoughts moved onto the other exam entrants.

"_I wonder how strong they are" _she contemplated, not just thinking about the Rock ninja that they had been specifically warned about but all of the potential opponents that they could face. She stopped herself again, before she could go down another negative road.

"_I must be confident"_ the indigo haired girl said to herself determinedly. She looked up, checking the position of the sun in the sky.

"We have just over an hour" Hanabi stated, moving next to her sister. Hinata nodded.

"Naruto-kun will arrive soon" she replied with a small smile. Though Hanabi said nothing, she knew that her sister would now wait at the entrance for the blonde haired boy.

What she didn't expect was for the said hyperactive ninja to come screaming up to the entrance, a look of incredible fear written all over his face.

"N-Naruto-k…" Hinata started, but was immediately interrupted by the boy in front of her.

"I'm really sorry I'm late!" he apologised. Hinata barely had time to glance at her little sister before she felt her get hand get swept up. Before she knew it she was being pulled away and the lavender eyed girl had to start running to stop herself from falling and dragging the two of them to the ground.

"Come on!" Naruto called back to the stunned Hanabi as he ran hand in hand with her sister. The small girl sighed in exasperation.

"I don't know what you see in him nee-chan" she murmured to herself, before following the other two, albeit at a much slower pace.

XXXXXXXXXX

"We made it!" Naruto sighed, coming to a stop outside the examination room. Next to him Hinata panted heavily, trying to get her breath back.

"_When we ran before he really __was__ holding back"_ she realised, but her heart warmed with the knowledge that he had definitely improved. She was proud of him, and the thought made her blush.

Naruto had no time to notice anything Hinata was doing though, the moment he had stopped he had immediately turned around and he was now frantically looking about for something. Making a small noise of exasperation, Naruto turned back to the girl beside him.

"Hinata, where's your sister?" he asked with a vexed look. Hinata straightened up as Naruto continued to search for the younger Hyuuga.

"We're gonna miss the deadline…" he muttered "…I'll go find her!" he decided. But just as he was about to dash off again he felt a tug at his sleeve, forcing him to turn around.

"W-We still have about three quarters of an hour N-Naruto-kun" she managed, still out of breath and a little red from her earlier thoughts. The blonde frowned.

"Really?" he asked. Hinata nodded and Naruto's face broke into a goofy grin.

"Hehe, that was a bit stupid" he laughed, scratching the back of his head.

"At l-least we're here early" she said defending him against himself. Naruto nodded uncertainly, still slightly worried about forcing the long haired girl to run so fast for no real reason.

"W-We can see more of the other teams, we m-might even be the first to get here" Hinata continued, reading the look on his face. Naruto nodded again, this time more positively.

To her surprise he then proceeded to use both hands to rub his hair and for the first time, Hinata noticed that his hair was wet.

"I'm glad I managed to have a shower though" he confessed.

"If this exam is anything like the one before we won't be showering for quite a while. Imagine what it'll be like after this, even with a shower today" he finished with a laugh, without thinking. A second later his brain caught up with his mouth and he cursed himself. Having been on the wrong end of Sakura's punch more times than he liked to remember, he knew most of the more sensitive subjects for girls. Personal hygiene was unfortunately high up on the list.

"Not that I'm saying you'll smell though…" he went on, backtracking furiously as Hinata blushed in embarrassment.

"…I mean… uh…" Naruto tailed off, unable to think of anything to say that wouldn't exacerbate the situation he had got himself into.

To his relief, at that moment Hanabi made an appearance, joining the two of them. There was a moment of awkward silence that the younger Hyuuga had no idea about before a still blushing Hinata opened her mouth.

"S-Shall we go inside?" she asked quietly.

"Okay!" Naruto agreed loudly, still desperately trying to forget what he had just said. Hanabi merely nodded, wondering what had just happened.

"_Probably something stupid"_ she decided as the three of them walked into the building.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Come on, it's time to get up" Mihoto tried for what seemed like the hundredth time, gently shaking the shoulder of the dozing male form in front of her. There was a groan, and the shoulder slipped from her grasp, moving back into the position it had just been.

"We've got less than an hour, idiot! You're a lazy dumbass too, you do know that? Get up!" Eri shouted angrily from behind Mihoto. The only thing that was stopping her from kicking their lazy team mate awake was the crouched form of her sister leaning over the futon he was sleeping in. However, the curled up figure did give another groan in response to the tirade of verbal abuse it received.

"We really need to go" Mihoto coaxed gently, shaking him again. The boy turned over and opened one bleary eye.

"Just a few more minutes?" he asked with a small smile.

"No!" Eri screamed, causing the other two to wince slightly. Mihoto shook her head with a little smile of her own and Sho sighed.

"I could cut the distance I have to travel down to how the crow flies you know" he murmured to the quieter of the two twins.

"I know…" she acknowledged "…but that would be silly, wouldn't it?" she asked rhetorically. The dark brown haired boy nodded, and stretched out his arms.

"Okay, I'm getting up" he conceded. Eri rolled her eyes.

"Finally!" she muttered darkly, storming out of the room. Mihoto stayed a moment longer.

"Don't worry about food, I have some ready that you can eat while we walk" she told him, before leaving the room and allowing him to change.

"Thanks!" he called through the door.

XXXXXXXXXX

As it turned out, they weren't the first to arrive. Fortunately they had arrived in time to get seats, and the three new team mates took the ones that were on the leftmost side of the room, near the windows. Naruto leaned back in his seat and sighed in appreciation. The other two looked around the room, at the ninja that had already arrived.

"_It doesn't look like those Rock ninja have arrived yet"_ Hinata thought to herself, though as she continued looking around another group of rock ninja had arrived. She quickly checked the rest of the applicants.

There was one group of Water ninja over in the right hand corner of the room, and another group from the land of Lightning was off to their right. Three or four other groups from Konoha and another few from Sunagakure were also dotted around the room. More were definitely turning up, she knew but just as Hinata was about to go into a more detailed examination of each of the ninja around the room, her thoughts were interrupted by the spiky haired boy next to her.

"Do you remember the last time I was taking the Chuunin exam? When I was sitting next to you?" he enquired, looking away from her.

"Yeah…" Hinata replied nervously. Naruto smiled.

"I do too…" he paused "…I never really thanked you for trying to help me during the test last time did I?" he asked. Hinata gave a small smile.

"Y-You said that I might get in trouble for h-helping you cheat. T-That was enough" she replied, blushing. Naruto grinned, and looked at her for the first time.

"But I guess I won't be able to be next to you this time will I?" he admitted begrudgingly. Hinata realised he was still nervous about this written test.

"_I wish I could be next to you __all__ the time Naruto-kun…"_ Hinata said to herself, sighing inwardly. Suddenly she realised what she had just thought and turned bright red, afraid that she had spoken those thoughts aloud. However, though she hadn't in fact said anything out loud, Naruto had noticed the interesting colour that the normally pale girl had gone.

"You okay Hinata?" he asked, raising a hand to her forehead, oblivious to the effect he was having on her. This was almost too much for the poor girl, the physical contact causing her already befuddled mind to haze over even more. Naruto's next words were what finished her off.

"Wow Hinata, you're hot!" he exclaimed, and as Hinata's clouded mind managed to take those words completely out of context, she fell into Naruto induced oblivion.

"Hinata?" the blonde asked worriedly as her limp form fell forward. He held his arms out and managed to catch her before she fell off her seat or did herself any damage on the table next to them, and Hinata nestled into the space below his chin, instinctively wrapping her arms around the blonde boy's form in her state of unconsciousness.

Still unsure about what had just happened, Naruto then felt something rubbing against his chest. He looked down slowly and to his shock, he realised it was her breasts pressed against him. He breathed in sharply, shocked, but that only worsened the situation as he managed to take in the lavender smell of Hinata deeply into his nose.

Cursing Jiraiya and shuddering slightly in his attempt to ward off the perverted thoughts the very same Ero-Sennin had introduced him to, Naruto lifted the indigo haired girls' form away from his body and onto the table in front of them, arranging her into the most comfortable position possible. He then stood up, and opened a window.

"It is hot in here" he murmured to himself, before sitting back down. Beside him, Hanabi was pointedly not looking at either of the other two, though this was completely missed by the still preoccupied Naruto.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_What happened?…" _Hinata asked herself, before the memories of only minutes ago hit her. She scolded herself for fainting.

"_I thought I had got over that"_ she told herself reproachfully.

Hinata opened her eyes slowly and within seconds she realised she was leaning on some sort of hard surface _"… a table…"_ her mind informed her. She lifted herself off its wooden surface and took a look around. It was a lot more crowded now, and it appeared as if each of the villages' groups had amalgamated, with very little interaction between ninja from different countries. Next to her, Naruto noticed that she had woken up and smiled at her.

"I opened a window" he informed her "It was a little warm in here wasn't it?" he asked. She just nodded silently, before a question hit her.

"Ano…N-Naruto-kun?" the blonde fixed her with his bright blue eyes, waiting for the question.

"W-What's the time?" she asked timidly. His eyes flickered to the clock behind her.

"We have about five minutes" he replied, then frowned.

"But I don't see any examiners, shouldn't they have arrived by now?" he wondered aloud. But before Hinata could reply, there was a small explosion, and a cloud of smoke appeared at the front of the room. Naruto smiled in satisfaction, but that smile was wiped clean off his face when the smoke cleared.

"You!" Naruto called across the room pointing accusingly, before Hinata desperately pacified the irate blonde. The new arrival merely frowned in response to his outburst, before speaking to the entire room which had by now fallen completely silent.

"Hello, my name is Ebisu and I will be the examiner for this first test" he announced.

"The examination will not in fact take place in this room but in one down the hall. Shortly I will ask you all to leave this room in an orderly manner and take the places allocated to you by the people inside" he informed them, pausing slightly to allow the information to sink in before continuing.

"Any fighting while moving between rooms will result in immediate disqualification for you and your entire team" he warned.

"The test itself will be a written one. There will be ten questions, all of which you will be expected to answer. Once you enter the examination room and the doors are closed there will be no use of any ninjutsu, and no communication or cheating of any kind.

"Any violation of these rules will also result in immediate disqualification for you and your team members" his statement was received with a few murmurs from the throng, all of which were ignored. Ebisu signalled to the door at the back of the room.

"You will now be directed towards the examination room" he proclaimed. As the words left his lips the doors opened, and the multitude of ninja were slowly shown through the door and down the hall.

Being near the back, Naruto, Hinata and Hanabi were some of the last to leave and Naruto rose slowly, still amazed that Ebisu was the first examiner. He turned to Hinata as they began walking.

"Maybe this exam won't be so bad after all" he muttered quietly. She looked quizzically up at him.

"Why?" she asked.

"This examiner isn't that good of a ninja, he's just a pervert" Naruto told her, causing her to blush. She was suddenly struck with a thought.

"But…N-Naruto-kun, isn't Jiraiya-sama a p-pervert too? You do c-call him E-Ero-Sennin don't you?" she asked. Naruto raised his eyebrows.

"I guess you have a point" he conceded, and was about to continue when there was a loud bang up ahead. The entire crowd craned their heads to see what had just happened.

"No fighting!" a voice called out angrily.

"Examinees twenty one, twenty eight and forty four are all disqualified, as are examinees six, nineteen and thirty two. You were warned!" the voice reprimanded loudly. Naruto and Hinata exchanged a glance, and then the crowd started moving again.

The mass of people thinned out as they moved along and pretty soon, they had reached the examination room. Naruto turned to his two team mates.

"Good luck, both of you" he said encouragingly. Hanabi gave a nod, and Hinata blushed.

"G-Good luck to you t-too Naruto-kun" Hinata managed. He gave a winning smile to the indigo haired girl, before a hand directed him through the doors of the examination room. Moments later he was sitting down at an empty desk, and he swivelled around to see Hinata and Hanabi also seat themselves around the rest of the room. He gave a small nod to each of them which was returned by both, though one nod was made with a slightly more coloured face.

He turned back around quickly as the doors shut silently.

"_The first exam. Here we go…"_ Naruto thought to himself.

XXXXXXXXXX

There we go…there's a reason I stopped when I did. Slightly shorter than usual but I hope you enjoyed the return to Naruto and Hinata; they're so fun to write. I've left a number of different hints about what Sho's technique is now; can anyone guess what it is? What else… oh, I was planning to have the next chapter done by now actually but I didn't get up for ages this morning. I had the worst sore throat in the world, my glands were swollen as well, it wasn't good at all. I'm feeling better now but I have no idea what caused it… put it down to one of life's little mysteries I guess. Anyway…

Later.


	23. The First Exam

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. I was reading through this story and I realised the writing at the start could be a lot neater so I'm slowly touching up the earlier chapters. Don't worry, nothing is gonna change that matters to the story, it's just bugging the hell outta me.

Chapter 23: The First Exam

It had now been ten minutes since the doors had been closed, and there had been no sign of anything happening. Naruto was getting impatient. His eyes scanned the room for the hundredth time.

"_Where the __hell__ are the examiners?"_ he asked himself angrily. Not even an exam paper to worry about, he was growing bored as well as tense at the prospect of the upcoming challenge.

"_When on earth are we going to take this __stupid__ written test?"_ he shouted within the confines of his own head. In truth, it was taking all the limited self control he had to stay in his seat and not leap up and forcibly try and get this part of the exam over with. His thoughts turned to the head examiner for this part of the test and he frowned.

"_Damn closet-pervert, is he trying to pick on me?"_ he wondered. It wasn't impossible, he thought irritably. The blonde looked around the room again. No one else seemed to be moving much either. That included Hinata a couple of rows at the front to his left.

"_She seems calm though, I guess"_ he said to himself, trying to keep calm himself.

"_And Hinata knows what she's doing, it's her third time doing this"_ he thought, briefly flirting with rationality. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. And it certainly didn't help his already fraying patience that he couldn't work out what that was.

He dimly realised calming himself down hadn't worked at all, his face still looked like thunder. Though through Hinata's silent influence he had now decided not to do anything…for now at least.

XXXXXXXXXX

But the blue eyed Kyuubi container wasn't the only one who was confused about what was going on. Hinata too was wondering why they had all been led into this room and then seemingly abandoned. She too had also been scanning the room for clues, though obviously not with her Byakugan as that would have got her disqualified.

"_That is…"_ she thought slowly.

"…_if we really __are__ being watched"_. The indigo haired girl considered the possibility that they weren't, but each time she did the words of the examiner wearing the dark glasses came to mind.

"**No use of ****any**** ninjutsu and no communication or cheating of any kind"**

"**Any violation of these rules will also result in immediate disqualification for you and your team members"**

It seemed very unforgiving.

"_Either way, I can't take the risk"_ she thought to herself.

"_I don't want to get any of us disqualified"_ in fact, though Hinata didn't want to admit it, she was worried Naruto would lose his patience and get the three of them thrown out.

"_I did tell him when he was studying that it was important to stay calm though"_ she told herself, trying to allay her fears. It wasn't working.

"_That was then, this is now. And we don't even have a test to do yet"_ she considered. Naruto-kun wasn't a very patient person was he? Though normally she found his impulsiveness charming her worries only increased at the thought of the implications in this sort of situation.

"_I'll just take a quick look at him"_ the Hyuuga girl decided finally. Shifting position slightly, she allowed herself to face slightly to the right, now allowing her eyes to find the blonde, spiky haired boy sitting a little way away. To her shock, the orange and black clad ninja seemed totally calm.

"_What?..." _Hinata thought, confused. That was completely out of character, the Naruto she knew would at the very least be looking annoyed by now. She smiled to herself at the thought and allowed her eyes to linger on his face for a few more seconds, searching for some sort of expression.

"_Something's wrong…"_ she decided, though even then still slightly uncertainly. But as each second passed she grew surer and surer that she was right in her assumption.

"_You can always tell what he's thinking by his expression"_ she told herself, unaware of the fact that she was one of the few people who could read him really well.

"_He never looks expressionless like that"_ she thought, now properly concerned.

"_What is going on?"_ Hinata wondered, her brain working overtime.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hanabi frowned to herself. The younger Hyuuga, like her sister, had also been unsure about what had been going on since around the first five minutes and though the atmosphere in the room was definitely an exam atmosphere, nothing had happened yet. But even the amount of time that had passed was a guess, there didn't seem to be any way of keeping the time. And now she thought about that…

"_It's strange, for an examination room not to have a clock, or something…"_ the girl thought to herself. That small fact, added to the fact that there wasn't an examiner in sight or an exam, was beginning to unnerve her. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to work out what was wrong. She decided to fall back on what she had been taught, both in the ninja academy and from her father.

"_I must be disciplined"_ she told herself, Hiashi's words echoing clearly in the expression. That meant she shouldn't relax. Just because everything was seemingly quiet didn't mean that there wasn't something going on in the background did it?

"_Trust your instincts"_ she remembered. That one was from the academy, when Iruka-sensei had gone slightly off topic and explained that essentially in a pinch, you survived on instinct. Well, her instincts had told her that something was wrong, so she should trust them.

"_Okay…I've worked out that there is something wrong, if I stay alert and calm, I should be able to work out what is going on"_ she decided, continuing to scan the room.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was when Hinata was looking around the room for what seemed like the hundredth time that something clicked. She looked around the room at the other examinees and her pale lavender eyes widened. Each face was as blank as Naruto's had been, and though each of them would shift slightly occasionally, this was obviously not natural.

Bewildered by the discovery she had just made, it took the indigo haired girl another minute or so before the answer came to her.

"_Oh!"_ she thought, suddenly realising the secret behind her odd discovery.

"_Ohhhh…I understand"_ she reflected, as the different pieces of the formerly confusing puzzle were now seemingly explained. The pale girl lifted her arms to the tabletop, closed her eyes and concentrated hard, cutting the chakra flow to her brain and then redirecting it suddenly. When she next opened those same eyes a second later, her suspicions had been proved entirely correct.

"_It __was__ an illusion!"_ she silently congratulated herself, looking around.

The room had completely changed. Previously devoid of any senior ninja, Hinata saw at least five of them sitting on chairs with clipboards in their hands off to her left and she assumed there were more behind her. Her peripheral vision in fact picked up a few more of them but she didn't dare to move her head to look lest she be accused of cheating. She took a quick look at the front of the room and blinked. The man Naruto-kun had earlier identified to her as a pervert was standing at the front of the class, and he was looking smug.

"_I wonder why he's looking like that"_ she thought to herself as her eyes moved across the blackboard behind the senior ninja. Her question was answered immediately as she read what was written on its dark surface.

'EXAM START: 12:10'

'EXAM FINISH: 13:10'

SILENCE AT ALL TIMES

"_What!"_ she exclaimed inwardly, stifling a gasp. She checked a clock that she could have sworn wasn't there a minute ago.

"_The exam's already started? We're ten minutes in?"_ Hinata asked herself, shocked. Then all of a sudden she noticed that there were white rectangles of paper on each of the desks in front of the examinees. She finally looked down at her own desk, on which she was resting her arms, and spied a small white corner of something. Lifting her arms out of the way she had to stifle a gasp for a second time.

On the desk in front of her was an exam paper!

"_It had been here the whole time?"_ she wondered, already knowing the answer. Briefly looking around she saw that a few others had worked out the same thing as her and were now working on the questions. Nevertheless, though she was not the first one to work it out and was still surprised to say the least, the pale girl felt a small rush of accomplishment to have noticed the illusion early enough to give herself a good run at the questions. But her brief moment of happiness wilted at the thought of the blonde sitting a little way away.

"_Will he be able to work it out?"_ she asked herself worriedly. Genjutsu wasn't his strong point was it? Deciding to repeat what she had done earlier, the Hyuuga girl stole a second glance at the blonde, and her fears were realised.

"_He looks upset"_ she thought, putting it politely, as royally pissed off would have probably been a more suitable description. But she also managed to see the tension and nervousness in his expression and at that moment Hinata felt an almost inexorable desire to put the poor boy out of his misery, as she had tried to do in their last test together. It would have been so easy to shout out: 'Its right in front of you Naruto-kun!'.

"_But I can't…"_ she admitted to herself, resigned. She turned back to her own paper and picked up the pencil placed on her paper.

"That's IT!" a voice shouted, and for a split second Hinata's heart felt like it stopped. Out of the corner of her eye a figure began to stand up in protest, obviously not having identified the illusion. Then, to her shock, just as the protester was about to be fully upright, something flew across the room and embedded itself in the neck of the angered Genin, causing him to collapse back in his seat.

"Examinees Examinees four, twenty three and thirty are disqualified" a voice called out. A voice that the indigo haired girl recognised…

"_Neji-nii-san?"_ she asked herself. But she didn't have time to worry about that. Seconds later, two more flashes indicated that two more projectiles had been thrown. Then movement to her right and the sound of a thump from behind her indicated that two more examinees had been incapacitated. Breathing a sigh of relief that Naruto had not been the one to protest but now worried about receiving the same treatment should Naruto follow suit, she checked to see if the outburst had been noticed by the other examinees.

"_No…"_ she sighed to herself, impressed at the nature of the Genjutsu despite herself. No-one had noticed a pretty loud shout, and the various Chuunin around the room had ensured that there was no other disturbance for the examinees. Hinata had noticed though, that a few of the other examinees were unconscious, undoubtedly through the same methods she had just seen. She took a third look at the spiky haired boy anxiously wanting to offer him words of support, now she was suitably worried.

"_I trust you Naruto-kun. Please see through this…"_ she asked him, though silently. That was the limit of what she could do and she knew it, painful as it was. She turned back to her exam paper for the second time and started to read it through.

XXXXXXXXXX

When she first noticed it, she had been dismissive. After all, people had habits didn't they? So if someone two rows in front and two seats right brushed their hair backwards the same way twice it didn't mean anything did it?

"_No, of course not"_ Hanabi thought to herself as she first noticed it. So when it happened a third time, the girl paid it only limited attention. It was when it happened a fourth time, and her eyes were drawn to a ninja on the other side of the room that she somehow knew would shift his weight at that moment, that she knew something was up. But through it all, the words of her father ran through her head.

"_Maintain your discipline"_ she thought, preventing herself from getting excited about this new discovery. And for the next few minutes she continued to observe the room, just as she had before.

Except now she was starting to know what to look for and eventually, after some time, she worked out the pattern. First, a guy would rub the back of his neck in front of her. Then, at the same time, the girl to the right would run a hand through her hair as someone far off to her right, near the front adjusted their forehead protector. A second later, another ninja on the other side of the room would shift his weight.

The events continued to take place, one after the other, until eventually they repeated. At first, she had thought the whole thing was some sort of code, but with the number of different ninja and the way all their movements started to repeat, Hanabi found herself dismissing that theory.

"_So why is it happening?"_ she asked herself. People were not that uniform, so…

"_So they're not people?"_ the thought seemed ridiculous, but she pursued it to the end anyway.

"_If they're not people then they are…replications? No, I saw all the examinees come in and they were all real…"_ her thoughts tailed off, before taking up another idea.

"_Could they be…illusions?"_ she mulled the idea over. The illusion would have to have been started after they had got in there…

"_But who would be in here after the doors had closed?"_ she asked herself.

"_Unless…there were people in here already, disguised by an illusion…"_ she paused, thinking. It seemed very far fetched to the young Hyuuga girl.

"_Still…"_ she thought to herself.

"_It can't do any harm to test the theory"_ she considered. And with the decision made, the brown haired girl raised her right hand to her left arm and sent a jolt of chakra through, wincing as she did so.

However, though she was in pain Hanabi had kept her eyes open and so was therefore able to witness the illusion as it dissolved around her, now in no doubt about what had caused the earlier oddities. Immediately, the things that Hinata had noticed a few minutes earlier, her younger sister also took note of. The one difference was that the moment the younger girl saw her exam paper and the time she had wasted, she ignored everything else.

"_I have less than forty minutes"_ she thought as she began to read.

XXXXXXXXXX

It had gone past twenty minutes since the doors had been closed and Naruto, at long last, had had enough.

"_This is just stupid!" _he thought heatedly.

"_I'm gonna find that idiotic closet-pervert and __shake__ an exam out of him if I have to!"_ he decided. And with that, he pushed himself forcefully from where he had been leaning on the table into a sitting position, intending to stand up and protest loudly to the whole room about the incompetence of certain dark glasses wearing idiots. He never actually got that far.

During his rapid movement, the blonde had sent his left arm backwards, and before he could lever himself into a standing position, his elbow hit the back of the wooden bench hard, right in the funny bone.

"…!" Naruto exclaimed, shutting his eyes and biting his lip quickly to muffle the sound of his shout. Pain ran throughout his elbow, followed quickly by the unsettling sensation of pins and needles all the way up the side of his forearm and to the end of his little finger.

"_Ow"_ he thought, massaging the hurt area with his other hand, his eyes still closed. He checked the bone he had just hit as he rubbed the tender spot, making sure he hadn't damaged anything. To his relief everything seemed okay.

"_Now…"_ he thought, opening his eyes and trying to recapture his train of thought. But what his eyes showed him once again brought all of his thought processes to a crashing halt.

"_When did __this__ show up?"_ he asked himself, picking up the previously hidden exam paper. He took a quick look around the room, and was only further confused.

"_Everyone has their papers? And how long have __they__ been there?"_ he wondered, looking at the examiners who had seemingly appeared from nowhere. His blue eyes were then drawn to the figure standing at the front of the room, and they narrowed at the look of smug superiority that the man was giving off. Nevertheless, Naruto read what was written on the board behind the dark glasses wearing Jounin, ignoring calls from other parts of his personality that wanted to attack the closet pervert for randomly appearing out of the blue. His eyes widened as he took in the information in front of him.

"_I have just over half an hour, for __ten__ questions?"_ he asked himself in disbelief. Completely forgetting the circumstances under which he had gained access to the exam paper the blonde snatched it up, along with the pencil beside it and started the exam.

The first thing that was written on the top was:

'Chuunin exam written test. You are expected to answer all questions'

'The pass rate on this exam will be determined by your overall team score when compared with other teams'

'BEFORE ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS WRITE YOUR NAME IN THE SPACE PROVIDED, NOT DOING SO WILL RESULT IN FAILURE'

Naruto scribbled his name down quickly.

"_It sure reminds me of the closet pervert"_ he thought to himself, unimpressed. He read on, starting the questions. To his relief, the first few were relatively easy, and he was able to move onto the rest feeling a lot more confident. The fourth question was a little trickier and the blonde's answer was blatantly barely even passable, even to himself. Nevertheless, he pressed on anyway, very mindful of his remaining time. The fifth, sixth and seventh questions went marginally better than the fourth, and Naruto was becoming more and more satisfied with Hinata's earlier guidance as each question went by.

"_I would be dead in the water right now if it wasn't for her"_ he admitted to himself, sparing her a quick glace before continuing. But by now the delays Naruto had incurred trying to answer each of the questions had left him with less than ten minutes left. And looking at the next question, he was beginning to panic.

"_I'll just look ahead and see if the others are any easier"_ he decided, reverting to an old tactic and looking for an easier question to answer. Through this method, the blonde boy skipped through questions eight and nine dismissing them out of hand, and then arrived on ten. His eyes widened in shock.

"_WHAT!?"_ he screamed, thankfully inwardly.

XXXXXXXXXX

She had answered some of the questions a little unsatisfactorily, but in the main Hanabi was happy with the answers she had given to the first nine questions. Tutelage from her father had helped her achieve a level of ninja understanding that no one else could really match in her age group. It was something she had to be grateful to him for.

"_The fact I got this too…"_ she thought, looking down at the Konoha forehead protector tied to her right leg that identified her as a Genin. She stopped her thoughts there.

"_I still have an exam to do. Discipline"_ she told herself, repeating the mantra her father had repeated to her over and over.

But as she returned to the exam and read the tenth question, her eyes narrowed.

"_What?"_ she asked herself.

XXXXXXXXXX

On the other side of the room, Hinata had just finished the ninth question.

"_One more to go!"_ she thought triumphantly, looking at the clock above the blackboard. It wasn't just the fact that she had one question left that had buoyed her mood though, no. She had by now noticed that the energetic blonde had somehow broken the Genjutsu he had been under, and was now frantically working on the previously invisible exam paper in front of him with a look of intense concentration that Hinata couldn't help but think was cute. Either way, to anyone, it was a far better look than the one he had been previously wearing on his face. Hinata smiled to herself.

"_I have well over five minutes for the last question"_ she allowed herself a small sigh of relief before attempting the last problem. After a shaky start this exam had gone far better than she had dared to hope. But as she read the last question, what warmth had been in her heart moments ago froze instantly and set into a cold concrete stone that seemed to sink painfully in her stomach.

"_No way!"_ she thought in disbelief.

'Pick one member of your team. The most nominated team mate will be removed from the exam and the remaining candidates will be eligible to continue. You may pick yourself'

XXXXXXXXXX

Hmmm. I was going to end it later, but it was getting a bit long. I think if I had finished it in one chapter then I would have had a double length chapter. Plus this way we get a nice cliffhanger! Yay! I might just go and hide now… Hopefully you'll be pacified by the fact Naruto Shippuuden is out tonight. Hopefully. The next bit will be up soon though, I'm already part way through it, I just thought I'd cut off here for now. Oh by the way, I will get round to answering your reviews, I've just been a bit busy, sorry. Anyway…

Later.


	24. The End of the First Exam

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. Hope you all like how I ended this first exam, I tried to draw aspects of it from the other exams that have been shown, but mix them up a little. Did it work? The other thing I would like to ask: Could people suggest an anime I really need to watch, i.e. one that you loved (or love, if it's still going). I am currently down to watching two anime's, both of which only come out weekly (Naruto and Clannad), which is getting frustrating. Anyway, enjoy.

Chapter 24: The End of the First Exam

Hinata read and re-read the question over and over, but each time the chill in her heart grew as she realised that no matter how she interpreted it, they would have to lose one of their team. After the earlier elation of breaking the illusion early, and observing Naruto do the same, this was a severe blow to the indigo haired girl. With considerable, painful reluctance, she tried to think of who she should name.

"_Naruto-kun…"_ but she dismissed the thought immediately.

"_I couldn't do that to him"_ she told herself, imagining the look on the energetic boy's face should he be told he was failing the exam. Possibly even worse would be his reaction to finding out that she chosen him. The mere thought of Naruto being hurt or angered by her threatened to break the lavender eyed girl's heart. She quickly moved on.

"_Hanabi-imouto…"_ Hinata thought slowly. In all honesty, this seemed like the only choice that would allow her and Naruto-kun to progress. But the kind hearted girl didn't have it in her. Beside the fact that her father would find out about the reason for Hanabi's failure…

"_She is my sister…"_ the long haired girl thought. And at that moment, the faded image of her mother came to the troubled Hinata and instantly her mind was completely made up.

"_I will not betray my sister…for anything…"_ she promised her absent mother, apologising silently for even allowing the thought to pass through her head. She shook away the sadness that had permeated the situation and re-assessed the circumstances.

"_Do I have to give myself up?"_ she asked herself, the hopelessness of the problem once again starting to eat at the girl. She put her head in her hands to think, and images flashed thorough her mind.

"_If I give up now…I will fail, again…"_ she thought, despairing as she remembered the hopes she had had only an hour before.

"_I won't be Naruto-kun's team mate anymore…"_ she added desolately. The person who had helped her gain what strength she had now, the person who had given her the ninja way they both shared, the person who had made an impact on her heart for so long. The one who had allowed her this opportunity…

But as she considered these thoughts, another one hit her, hard.

"_I will continue to be a failure to the whole village…to father…"_ and that was why she wanted to take this exam wasn't it?

"_I can't give myself up…"_ she thought despondently.

And yet, though it hurt, Hinata still refused to write either one of the others names down.

Instead, taking a shuddering breath, the tortured girl scribbled down a hurried answer and buried her head in her arms. Had another examinee now been able to look at the paper now underneath the girl, the answer they would have seen would have been:

'I can't'

"_I just can't…"_ she thought, closing her eyes tightly.

XXXXXXXXXX

For his part Naruto stared down at the exam paper with such intensity that the offending sheet of white paper could almost have burst into flame. He had been angry before at the effect of the illusion, though he hadn't been aware of the fact there was an illusion. But now…

"_They expect me to sacrifice one of my team mates!?"_ he asked himself lividly. The blonde looked up at the still smiling figure of the closet pervert at the front.

"_Screw this!"_ Naruto thought, positively shaking as he barely kept his emotions in check enough to stay silent. But that left only one option.

"_I have to give myself up?"_ he thought, slightly sobered by the idea. But it didn't take long for the hot headed boy to work his way back up to anger again.

"_I will __not__ give myself up! Or __anyone__ else for that matter"_ he decided angrily, snatching up his pencil again to vent his feelings unthinkingly.

'I REFUSE!' he wrote, underlining the word 'refuse' a number of times. Somewhat satisfied with his answer, the blonde managed to calm down slightly, even managing to remember that he hadn't answered the previous three questions.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hanabi looked at the question for a few seconds, thoughts running wildly through her head.

"_Who should I pick? Naruto? Nee-chan? Should I choose myself? If I select Naruto, what will nee-chan think?"_ Hanabi began to feel the beginnings of panic. Realising this, the young girl managed to stop herself. Brushing her hair out of her pale eyes, she took a breath and returned to her father's words.

"_Discipline" _the young Hyuuga said to herself calmly. She looked at the question again and frowned. Looking at it calmly, and assessing it as a question, it was strange…

"_For us to enter this exam as a team of three, and then immediately be asked to discard a member…"_ something was wrong. She tried to remember everything she had heard of the Chuunin exams. Apart from it being a brutal test of skills, carrying the risk of severe injury or death, the one thing she repeatedly remembered hearing…

"_Teamwork"_ she remembered.

"_That's pushed quite heavily in the academy as well"_ Hanabi considered thoughtfully. She looked at the question for a third time.

"_So this question doesn't make any sense"_ she thought to herself. So how should she answer it? It was wrong, surely, to suggest a team mate. She paused.

"_What about suggesting myself?"_ she wondered, mulling over the possibility. But that idea didn't sit well with the brown haired girl either. It was akin to suicide, effectively putting herself out of the exam.

"_So…"_ she pondered. What did that leave her with? She looked up and dimly realised there was a little over a minute to go. Fighting the urge to just answer the question, Hanabi continued her train of thought.

"_Can I…not answer?"_ she asked herself, frowning. Almost without realising her hand slowly but surely made a few marks under the tenth question with the pencil. Still unsure, she looked down at what she had written.

'No'

XXXXXXXXXX

Those who had managed to work out the fact that they had been under an illusion, and who had finished, watched as the clock counted down the last few seconds of the first exam.

And all the three of them could do now, was hope.

XXXXXXXXXX

Turning away from the clock to face the examinees Ebisu gave a quick signal to the other examining ninja around the room. Then slowly but surely, those who were still under the effects of the illusion watched it fade away, albeit with a fair degree of surprise.

"Stop writing!" Ebisu called out a moment later, also giving the signal for the sedated ninja to be revived. Putting his pencil down, Naruto sighed. The answers he had managed in those last few minutes had been awful, but at least he had something down.

"_I'll just have to rely on Hinata and Hanabi"_ he thought to himself. As he did so a few mumbles started up across the room, but were quickly silenced by the figure standing at the front.

"Silence!" he shouted out, reducing the room to a hushed stillness once again.

"The exam is now over, but there are a few points I will now explain" the special Jounin adjusted his dark glasses before going on.

"This exam was a test of a number of ninja skills!" Ebisu started with a predatory smile.

"The first test was that of patience. Some of you decided to protest or talk, which you were specifically banned from doing and so you failed" he explained.

"But there was no-one around!" a voice suddenly called out. Naruto turned in his seat and saw a light blue haired rain ninja who looked furious, as well as slightly groggy for some reason Naruto couldn't quite work out.

"We had to find out what was going on!" another protested, but he was blocked from the blonde's view by some of the other participants. Moments later the two sentiments were backed by a great deal of support from other examinees. Ebisu seemed unimpressed.

"You failed to have the patience to observe your surroundings like a proper Shinobi should. Incidentally, those of you who got bored and decided to sleep through the exam are also guilty of this" he pointed out, somehow silencing the protesters.

"All of those who missed the fact that there was a genjutsu active in the room are to leave now, the rest of their teams included. By that I mean if the exam paper in front of you is blank, you and your team fail" he explained. A quick scan of the room was taken by the examiners around the room, and numbers were read out. There was momentary uproar at the revelation, which was quickly silenced by the same proctors. Naruto barely noticed some of the people around him stood up and exited the room.

"_There was a genjutsu active in the room?"_ he asked himself, stunned. He felt a twinge in his elbow and remembered bashing it against the back of the bench.

"_Did I deactivate it then?"_ he wondered. What with the stress of suddenly discovering an exam paper and having to answer the questions, he honestly didn't know for sure whether there had been or not.

As Naruto was lost in thought, the failed examinees were led out, or in the cases of the still unconscious participants who had been given a little too much sedative, carried. Ebisu addressed the room as the last few left the room.

"The rest of you, could you hand your tests to the ends of your desks please?" he asked. The ninja followed orders, and the tests were collected by the ever present officials of the exam who then quickly looked through the papers. As the last few were flicked through, each of them looked towards Ebisu. The special Jounin nodded back, before once again attending to the expectant crowd.

"The following entrants have failed the first exam!" he called out, making sure that the entire room heard. As those holding the exam papers took their cue, Ebisu observed the remaining candidates, amused to see a number of them were confident.

"_I can guarantee that more of you have failed than you think"_ he silently informed them, as the ninja around the room began to speak.

"Examinee fifty five and twelve" one started.

"Thirty seven, thirty one, eighty five and ninety" continued a voice that Naruto, Hinata and Hanabi all recognised.

"Fifty one" a voice to Naruto's right called.

"Ninety and ninety seven" the voice seemed to reply moments later. Naruto turned round in his seat to confirm his suspicions. Naruto smiled to himself. Sitting near the back, and admittedly looking even paler than usual, was Neji reading off a sheet. The thing that surprised the blonde was the fact that the Hyuuga boys' hair-bunned team mate was sitting next to him. Naruto shook himself and started listening again; realising numbers were still being read out. But at that moment the murmurs and discontent that had accompanied them finally boiled over.

"Hey! Why did I fail?!" a red headed grass ninja with a serrated sword slung across his back shouted, standing up and interrupting the more senior ninja around the room. For a reason unknown to all but a few of the entrants, one of which was Hinata, Ebisu raised a hand. Next to Neji, Tenten lowered the sedative laden dart that had just appeared in her hand and relaxed.

"Do you think you deserved to pass?" Ebisu asked calmly, his arms folded.

"Of course! I know I answered every question correctly" the enraged grass ninja retorted. Ebisu only raised his eyebrows.

"All of those who have had their names read out so far, and will have their names read out momentarily, got the tenth question wrong" he explained.

"But it was the easiest! By the time I realised there was a Genjutsu and got out of it I only had twenty minutes to answer them all" a girl called out.

"Yeah! That was the shortest question, and the easiest, how did I get that one wrong?" another, dark haired leaf ninja called out, protesting. A number of others agreed vocally with the two of them.

"The easiest?" Ebisu enquired with raised eyebrows, barbs evident on the end of the question. Both Genin who had asked the question paused nervously, and the dark glasses clad ninja took the opportunity.

"The tenth question was in fact the most important one that determined whether you could pass or fail this exam. The others are… a tiebreak, if you will, in case too many answer the tenth question correctly" he greeted the stunned silence with a self satisfied smile.

"As Chuunin you would be the leader of a squad. As a leader would you accept a plan that involved leaving one of your team behind?" he asked.

"Of course. If the mission was completed" replied the red haired Genin offhandedly. On the other side of the room, Naruto stiffened.

"You really believe that?" Ebisu asked. The ninja nodded, frowning.

"The life of a shinobi is essentially worthless, what is the life of one person?" he asked heatedly. Hinata caught some movement in the corner of her eye and turned. At the words of the irate grass ninja, the blonde had started to shake, and the now worried long haired girl watched as each of his hands slowly balled up into a fist. Oblivious, the special Jounin sighed.

"And that is why you failed this exam, because-" but his next words were interrupted by the sound of a fist slamming onto a desk.

"Anyone who would abandon their team mates is trash!" Naruto shouted, still visibly shaking. All the attention of the room was now on him, but he didn't care.

"You call yourself a ninja!?" Naruto continued, enraged and now pointing at the scowling redhead. The grass ninja made as if to step forward, and seeing this, Naruto started to move too.

"You want to fight it out blondie?" the ninja offered threateningly, raising a hand to the hilt of his sword. Seeing this, Hinata made as if to get up herself. Fortunately, the quiet girl was spared the effort.

"Silence!" Ebisu shouted angrily, stopping both irate shinobi in their tracks.

"Naruto. Sit down or you will be disqualified for fighting, that rule has been mentioned" the dark glasses clad special Jounin turned to the grass ninja as Naruto sat down slowly, his eyes still on the redhead.

"You will leave" Ebisu stated simply. The still scowling boy merely huffed his displeasure before leaving the room. The head examiner addressed the remaining crowd.

"I will explain one last thing" he called out.

"If you are wondering why your name is read out when you nominated yourself, the answer should be obvious" he stated.

"You are not willing to fight for your own survival. Remember this: In a tight situation there is always another option, but giving yourself up should never be one. Fight for your team mates, but also fight for yourselves. Though you answered wrongly I offer those who nominated themselves good luck for next time" he gave a smile.

"And any more interruptions and you will be carried out of here" he stressed threateningly, motioning for the rest of the numbers to be read out.

XXXXXXXXXX

As Mihoto walked out of the exam she breathed a small sigh of relief.

"_That last question had me worried"_ she admitted to herself. But long ago she had decided to fight, and she was never giving up one of her team mates. Fortunately that sentiment had got them all through this test. Her thoughts turned to the blonde Konoha boy next to her who had shouted out.

"_He's someone to watch"_ she thought to herself.

"_But not one to anger"_ she considered. Though he was right in what he said. Interrupting her thoughts, but pleasantly, she felt the presence of her tall team mate.

"Ahhhhh!" Sho sighed, blinking, yawning and stretching in the light. Mihoto smiled, watching a couple of passing Genin flinch at his size as he reached upwards, his black jacket flapping outward.

"Those benches were too small, I was really cramped. And the desks were so short, I was leaning over the entire time" he complained with a smile, causing the brown haired girl to giggle slightly. Moments later, they were joined by her sullen twin. Mihoto turned to give her sister a small hug.

"Hey Eri, you didn't choose to have me thrown off the exam, I'm touched" Sho joked, only to be fixed with a dark look from over her sister's shoulder by the green eyed girl. But Mihoto knew that somewhere, deep down, Eri did care about the tall dark haired boy, and not just because of what she wanted from him. This exam was proof of that, and Mihoto trusted her twin. The smiling girl looked between the two of them.

"I don't know about you, but I thought it was pretty hot in there. We have time, shall we go get a drink?" she asked, tugging at her heavy copper coloured trench coat to accentuate the point.

XXXXXXXXXX

"We did it Naruto-kun!" Hinata beamed at the blonde as he pushed his way through the crowd, proud of him for the passion he had shown defending his beliefs, but too shy to say it so straightforwardly. Now in better spirits and for reasons he couldn't quite fathom, almost unable to be angry when the lavender eyed girl was pleased, Naruto smiled back.

"Yeah! I knew it'd be easy" he boasted. In actual fact it had been anything but, and Hinata knew that. But as Naruto reflected over the test, he remembered something.

"I'll be out in a minute Hinata, there's something I have to take care of" Naruto told the girl, ushering her ahead with a mischievous grin. The long haired Hyuuga nodded, wondering what he was up to. But she was glad that he was back to normal and the tension from the exam had now completely gone from his features.

"_I'm glad…"_ she thought to herself, watching the blonde's retreating back.

A few minutes later Naruto emerged, his roguish smile now even wider. He waved to the waiting Hyuuga sisters and moved forward to join them, the three of them setting off for the next part of the exam.

XXXXXXXXXX

Reaching the exam room, Tenten hurried through the double doors.

"_Forgetting my senbon because I was helping Neji walk, what is __up__ with me?"_ she asked herself, bending down to retrieve them from next to the chair she had been sitting on.

"Urrrgh…" a voice groaned, just within the brunette's hearing. She straightened up, and walked over to the source of the noise. To her shock, lying on the floor with blood streaming from his nose was none other than the first examiner himself!

"What on earth happened?" the brown eyed girl asked incredulously, crouching down to see what was wrong.

"So many girls…" the closet pervert mumbled groggily. Tenten looked around.

"No, there's only one of me" she told him, puzzled. For some reason she couldn't quite work out the special Jounin seemed to giggle at this.

"I'll go get you some help" she reassured him, standing up to go find someone.

"_I should have known when Naruto offered to show me his improved technique"_ Ebisu cursed inwardly.

XXXXXXXXXX

There we go. I'm actually kinda annoyed at myself; I was planning on being one or two chapters ahead by now, but it just hasn't happened… Still, I'll be keeping up this posting rate. I'm approaching two hundred reviews now so… I'd just like to thank everyone who has reviewed, in fact everyone who has read this story so far. There are many more chapters to come. I might have another prize/reward for the two hundredth reviewer actually, any ideas for what I could give? (Be reasonable, please). Anyway, bedtime for me.

Later.


	25. The Second Test

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. Sorry about the wait people, stuff happened. Thanks for your suggestions for things to watch as well by the way. I would actually be watching some of it right now, but I have work to do now, it's just gonna have to wait… Anyway, enjoy.

Chapter 25: The Second Test

The oversized trees towered over the wire mesh fence that separated the rest of Konoha from the training ground. The murky, humid and damp atmosphere within the enclosed area was a stark contrast to the bright, crisp and hot weather that the rest of the hidden Leaf village was currently experiencing, and looking in; it took the eyes a few seconds to acclimatise to the gloom. Not that there was much to see other than the endless foliage anyway.

Naruto put his hands behind his head.

"_I can't believe that the second part of the exam is in here again!"_ he thought to himself, oddly pleased that there was finally some familiarity.

"_That stupid closet pervert's exam…"_ he thought, remembering the revelation that he had been unaware of an active genjutsu for nearly half of the exam. Then there was the issue of that tenth question.

"_It was the tenth question last time too…"_ the blonde remembered. What was the obsession? He pondered this for a moment.

"_Either way, I guess I was a bit lucky to make it through"_ he conceded inwardly. That made two written exams he had been fortunate to make it through. He smiled to himself.

"_Well, isn't luck part of skill too? Didn't Kakashi-sensei say that once?"_ he asked himself. He turned to the two girls on his left.

"Looks like we got here early again" Naruto observed, moving his thoughts back to the present. Hanabi nodded, almost imperceptibly. Hinata on the other hand seemed distracted.

"You okay Hinata?" Naruto asked, concerned at the spaced out girl. At the sound of her name, the lavender eyed Hyuuga blinked and turned. Naruto looked over to where she had been looking.

"_Just a tree…she was probably just thinking"_ he told himself confidently as the long haired girl nodded.

"I-I'm fine Naruto-kun" she managed. The spiky haired boy smiled.

"What were you thinking about?" he asked lightly, causing the pale girl to blush.

"I-I was just remembering w-when you got cut by t-that examiner" she replied, embarrassed.

"_And when I tried to offer you that ointment…"_ she didn't add. She had hardly been able to eke out a sentence around him back then. The fact she was stuttering was at the very least a testament to the fact she was able to speak to him nowadays. It was slow and steady progress, but progress she was happy with.

"_I just have to get rid of this silly stutter now"_ she told herself. The most annoying thing was that around anyone else, with the occasional exception of her father, she was able to speak almost entirely normally. The indigo haired girl watched as Naruto's face contorted at the memory of the dangerous woman.

"I hope she's not the second examiner again, she's crazy" the blonde grinned nervously, remembering the pleasure with which she had described his impending bloody death in the forest.

"Who is?" a sultry voice asked, purring into Naruto's ear mere moments after the words had left his mouth. The blonde felt an arm around his shoulder, and something sharp poking into his back. On his left, Hanabi looked stunned. Next to her, Hinata looked more worried than anything else.

"_I sensed her, but she's really fast…too fast. I should have been paying attention"_ Hinata said to herself, replaying the split second actions over in her head. Unfortunately the trapped blue eyed ninja was not afforded this luxury and was concentrating on not being stabbed by the fiery Jounin.

"Hi, Anko-sensei" Naruto managed, stiffly. The purple haired kunoichi raised her eyebrows.

"You don't sound very scared" she observed. Naruto gave a small chuckle, still arching his back to avoid the point of the kunai.

"I wasn't totally surprised" he admitted. Anko gave a laugh of her own.

"You were still too relaxed, even if you did manage to sense me. I guess you've improved though" she told him. Naruto grinned.

"Or you've got worse" he joked, goading her slightly. Though he didn't see the glint that appeared in the scantily clad kunoichi's eye, the expression on the faces of both of his team mates told him he had just done something wrong. Well, that and the next words that were whispered into his ear.

"Y'know, I hope you don't run into any accidents in there" she said in a low undertone, so that only the blonde could hear her.

"Because I would hate to see any of that lovely warm blood of yours spilled" she breathed, at last eliciting an involuntary shudder from the younger ninja. The two Hyuuga sisters were only able to look on, Hinata fidgeting uncontrollably from the combination of both the closeness of Anko to Naruto, and the dangerous look in the Jounin's eye.

"Ha! Finally" the brown eyed woman laughed, releasing the sweating Genin from her grip.

"I preferred you before" she admitted.

"The younger ones are always easier to scare…" she muttered wistfully, the three team mates still struck dumb by the massive personality swings they had just witnessed.

"You have about a quarter of an hour before I make any announcements" she called back cheerfully, walking towards a small hut by one of the entrances.

"That's the second examiner?" Hanabi asked, still shocked. She got two slow nods in reply.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ah! I feel better for that!" Mihoto exclaimed brightly, stopping at the back of the group in front of the training ground. The boy standing next to her immediately slumped down to the ground and leaned against a handily placed boulder.

"This is the forty fourth training area then?" he asked from his prone position. The smiling twin nodded, while Eri regarded the tall brown eyed boy darkly.

"How long do we have?" Mihoto asked the two of them, surveying the crowd. Sho shrugged, while Eri joined her twin in her examination of the remaining Chuunin exam participants. They all seemed to be here now.

"Not long" was the succinct reply, before the brooding twin resumed her analysis of the examinees. Accepting this, Mihoto decided to take the weight off her feet and sat down next to the resting ninja.

"_It's going to be long exam…"_ the dark green eyed kunoichi told herself. This second test was going to start almost right after the first had finished. She sighed slightly and as her sister's eyes wandered over the competition Mihoto's caught sight of a yellow sign affixed to the fence.

'WARNING: YOU MAY DIE'

Mihoto smiled, nudging the dozing boy next to her. He groaned, pretending to be asleep and the girl laughed to herself.

"You're not the one who needs to conserve your energy" she murmured. Sho smiled, his eyes still closed.

"Fair enough. What is it?" he asked, opening his eyes. Mihoto pointed to the sign and laughed again as the tall ninja pretended to faint at the sight of it, raising a hand to his forehead theatrically. They had been in tough situations before; one of the advantages of waiting to take the exam was the extra mission experience you gained.

Ignoring the two sitting down, Eri looked around.

"_Sixty six remaining"_ she thought to herself, performing some quick calculations. The field had been reduced by well over half by the first exam. It had to be reduced by a lot more before the third exam. The auburn haired girl gave a rare smile.

"_Finally… some real action"_

XXXXXXXXXX

Anko looked over the throng gathered in front of the fence. She didn't bother counting, though she had to admit, by the looks of it Ebisu had done quite a good job.

"_Anyway, if they aren't all here by now, then they deserve to fail"_ she reasoned. And with that, the purple haired Jounin leapt out from behind the small hut and threw a small smoke bomb to announce her presence.

XXXXXXXXXX

The flash of the explosion, and the cloying smoke it produced instantly garnered the attention of the entire group, and even though the blonde had expected something like this…

"_She's always got to make an entrance…"_ Naruto grumbled inwardly, waiting for the smoke to clear. As it did so the figure of a purple haired and pony tailed woman materialised. To the shock of those who hadn't seen her before, this examiners clothes did not leave much to the imagination.

"I am the second examiner, Mitarashi Anko!" the woman shouted enthusiastically, to the stunned surprise of most of those in front of her.

"_I don't know what she's expecting…a cheer? Applause?"_ Naruto wondered, a heavy silence falling over the area. Dismissing the lack of response with a small wave of her hand, Anko began her explanation.

"Before we begin, I have to have you sign… these…" she announced, producing a wad of papers almost magically from somewhere in her coat and handing them to the nearest ninja. As they were passed around, the scantily clad Jounin continued her speech.

"You will be in this, the forty fourth training area, for five days. You may not leave until the end of those five days. It is a circular area, about twenty kilometres in diameter with a river running through it. The area is also heavily forested, as you can see, and has a tower in the middle" her eyebrows furrowed as a nervous Genin raised a hand.

"Yes?" she asked quizzically.

"This…" a black haired leaf ninja asked, holding the paper he had just been handed up. Anko said nothing, allowing him to continue.

"…it… '…absolves the village of Konoha of any deaths or serious injury that may occur during this, the second stage of the Chuunin exam'" he quoted, reading from part of the document. Anko shrugged and nodded.

"From here on, people will die. It's a fairly standard consent form" she explained.

"I don't want to be held responsible. Though you can give up here" the purple haired Jounin went on, smiling. The questioner shook his head quickly.

"Right. I will now explain what you have to do to pass this test" Anko stated. She smiled, knowing she now had the attention of the entire group.

"You must get hold of these!" she announced, pointing to her forehead. There were a number of confused looks, and a small silence, before finally someone spoke up.

"Your forehead protector?" a voice asked. Anko rolled her eyes.

"No. You will attempt to steal other team's hitai-ate's" she sighed.

"Of course, not everyone will have theirs on their forehead" she admitted, pointing to one Genin who had hers sewn onto her belt.

"Either way, each one of your team must acquire a different enemy's hitai-ate, and not lose their own, to pass this test. One per team member, that's three" she explained, making it as clear as possible.

"Of course, if you lose your own, you have until the end of the five days to try to get it back" she continued, beginning to run through the last few things before she could be interrupted.

"Killing is permissible from the start of the test. Of course, if a team loses a member to an injury that stops them from continuing, or if a team member dies, the rest of that team will fail" she ignored some of the shocked looks she was getting.

"As you can tell, there is no luck involved in obtaining three enemy hitai-ate's so this will be a complete test of your ninja skills, both for protecting your team mates and defeating enemies" she paused, looking around.

"One last thing, you go to the tower during the last day. You will spend four days in this training area, minimum. You will be unable to enter the tower before then" she informed the assembled teams.

"Any questions? No? Good, because I'm not taking any" the brown eyed woman grinned, not allowing enough time for any questions to be called out.

"When your team has filled your consent form out you will be assigned and then led to a gate" she finished, turning away from the ninja and going back to the small wooden shelter by the first gate.

XXXXXXXXXX

Watching the purple haired Jounin walk away, Naruto mulled the information the woman had just given over, unconsciously raising a hand to his forehead protector. Though the one he was wearing now wasn't the exact same one that Iruka had given him all those years ago, the idea of it being stolen unsettled the blonde.

"_But I can take one more step towards becoming Hokage with this exam!"_ he told himself, excitement quickly growing inside him.

Beside him, Hinata noticed her team mates' apparent unease and her hand went to her own hitai-ate that hung around her neck. Lost in her own thoughts the long indigo haired girl didn't notice the smile that started to creep across the blue eyed boy's face and jumped at the sudden shout.

"All right! Let's do this!" Naruto called out, eliciting a strange look from Hanabi, while her sister recovered from the shock.

After signing his name on the consent form, and watching impatiently as both Hinata and Hanabi did the same, Naruto practically dragged the two sisters to the small wooden shelter.

"Gate number twenty three" Anko informed the three of them, motioning to a ninja in the background to lead them to their entry point.

"Naruto-kun! It looks like I shall be leading you to your gate! Congratulations on passing the first test!" a very familiar voice called out excitedly, and loudly. Naruto's eyes widened at the sight of his green spandex clad friend.

"Bushy Brows! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked in wonderment. Lee smiled, striking his nice guy pose.

"I am aiding Konoha by taking part in the organisation of the Chuunin exams!" he explained with a smile, before a more serious expression moved across his features.

"Seeing the new up and coming fires of ninja youth in all their glory while I do so!" Lee enthused, theatrical tears falling down his face. Next to Naruto, Hinata hid a smile at the exuberance of the boy in the bowl cut. Away to the blonde's left, Hanabi fought a grimace from her face.

"_This __must__ be the Lee-san the Neji-nii-san talks about…"_ she told herself. From the conversations she had had with her cousin she had found out that this guy was half of the reason that missions could so often be unbearable. Now she could see why he said that.

"Follow me! We have the furthest distance to go, let us show our youthfulness!" Lee cried, suddenly pointing forwards and setting off at a sprint. The three team mates leapt off in pursuit, forced into running to keep up with the taijutsu specialist.

XXXXXXXXXX

Just over ten minutes later the four Konoha ninja were all standing in front of gate twenty three, three of the four of them breathing quite heavily due to the speed they had been going.

"We made good time; you now have twenty minutes rest!" Lee praised the three of them. Naruto looked up at his friend and sighed, the spandex clad Leaf ninja was now jogging on the spot.

Two minutes later the three of them had got their breath back and now Naruto was the one fidgeting in anticipation. Both Hanabi and Hinata were waiting calmly, though the older of the two did glance at the exasperated blonde periodically.

"_Naruto-kun…"_ Hinata thought worriedly, hoping that he would be able to stay calm during the test. With little else to do, the long haired girl checked the contents of her weapons pouches and kunai holsters before encouraging Naruto to do the same. She smiled as the blonde took the brief escape from boredom willingly.

Away from the three team mates, Lee was doing sit ups.

Eventually, after what seemed like an age to the hyperactive orange clad ninja, the time came, signified by Lee springing from his horizontal position and taking his place by the gate. He unlocked the gate, and then smiled at the three people in front of him.

"Good luck. I shall see you in five days time" he said reassuringly, pushing the entrance open.

XXXXXXXXXX

So that's chapter number twenty five. There will be fighting in the next chapter, so look forward to that. Again, sorry about the lateness… I'm trying my best. This chapter gave me a little difficulty for some reason as well. Hopefully the next one will go more smoothly. Well, until next time.

Later.


	26. Finally Some Action!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. I'm sorry, I meant to get this out Monday night but something got in the way. I SAW LINKIN PARK IN LONDON TUESDAY NIGHT!!! Awesome doesn't even cover it. Screaming "In the End" with about ten thousand other people is something I'll never forget. ahem. Yeah, if people really want to talk about that then message me, I shouldn't go on about it here, just thought I'd mention it because the reason I didn't finish this chapter on Monday was because I was rearranging everything to make it to the concert. I'll admit I got a little carried away there… Anyway, I tried to get this out as fast as possible considering my abysmal performance last time, and I'm gonna work on the next chapter right after this one. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 26: Finally Some Action!

The three Rock ninja looked into the area they would be spending at least the next four days. It was no brighter than any other part of the forest they had seen from the outside, and odd rustling sounds emanated from within, some strange, some animalistic and all more or less completely foreign to the three Earth country inhabitants. It had to be admitted though; their native land was almost entirely sparsely vegetated rock and mountain with very different flora and fauna, so the lack of recognisable sounds was no great surprise.

Perhaps that was why none of the three of them seemed perturbed in the least. The two sisters even seemed excited, though the lone male in the group seemed tired. Nevertheless, despite outward appearances the tension couldn't be broken quickly enough and when they were told they could begin all three of them immediately leapt forward and into training area forty four, paying no attention to the Chuunin locking the gate behind them.

A few minutes later the trio were enclosed in the dank gloom of the forest, and Sho looked down at the two girls running next to him.

"So, are we sticking to the plan then?" he asked as they slowed to a halt. Mihoto nodded, breathing slightly more heavily than the other two.

"They've made it surprisingly easy for us actually" she commented, raising her hand to the back of her head and untying her forehead protector that was largely hidden by her auburn hair. As the inscribed metal plate came away from her brow, a few strands fell back down and in front of the tops of her eyes slightly. Brushing the errant locks away, the green eyed girl motioned to the other two. Eri had already taken hers off, and handed it to her twin.

"Here" she stated as her sister accepted the item with a smile. Mihoto turned to the tall dark haired boy next to her and took his newly removed hitai-ate.

"Thank you" she nodded to him, before attending to her task. Reaching inside her heavy copper and silver coloured trench coat, the girl took out a squareish piece of paper, a small brush, a bottle of ink. The auburn haired girl sat down and started to work.

Leaving the now busy girl to her task, Sho turned to her sister.

"If all the teams have been evenly spaced out then there should have been a bit less than one and a half kilometres between each of us" he commented.

"Meet by the tower tomorrow?" he asked, and Eri nodded silently, watching her twin. The boy waited for any further response, and got a brief shift of the eyes in his direction from the brooding twin.

"So what are you still here for?" she asked, an edge starting to appear in her voice. Sho smiled.

"I guess I'll go on ahead then" he conceded. Eri's eyes narrowed, though she wasn't looking at the tall ninja any more.

"That was the plan…" she stated darkly. Sho nodded to the sitting girl, who looked up with a smile.

"Good luck" she offered, getting a smile and a nod in return.

"Thank y-"

"Go!" Eri shouted, finally losing her temper. The brown eyed boy grinned at the scowling girl, and then leapt away, his dark jacket flapping behind him. Calming down a little, the now frowning girl gave a pained sigh. Mihoto looked up briefly from her work.

"I know I've said this a hundred times, but you should cut him some slack" she advised amicably from her sitting position. Her sister made a noise in the back of her throat.

"And I've said this a hundred times, he's too damn lazy. It pisses me off that he doesn't have to work for anything. Whereas you-" Eri began, turning around. But she was interrupted before she could go any further.

"He works hard enough. And anyway, despite what you say you're still planning to use his abilities" Mihoto countered, once again focusing on her work and frowning at the memory of their earlier argument.

"_I'm still going to try and stop you… you have to come around eventually"_ she thought. But bringing that subject back up here would inevitably get both of them angry.

"_For now, this is more important" _she told herself, seeing her sister shrug.

"I said he was lazy, I didn't say he was useless" she replied, causing Mihoto to smile involuntarily, despite the thoughts that were running through her head. Eri looked down at the girl sitting in front of her.

"You nearly finished? We should move" she stated simply, ignoring her sister's smile. She watched as the fellow Rock kunoichi put away the brush and ink, and then stood up and nodded.

"Just a second" Mihoto asked, taking the three hitai-ates and holding them above the paper which now had a number of symbols written on it. Pausing for a moment, a look of concentration flickered across her features as she channelled chakra, and there was a small 'poof' along with a cloud of smoke as the three forehead protectors disappeared. Eri looked across at her sister.

"Ready?" she enquired.

Tucking the paper into her coat, Mihoto nodded. The two sisters shared a brief glance before leaping into the tall trees above.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I shall see you in five days time" said Lee reassuringly, pushing open the gate. Naruto grinned at the black haired boy.

"We'll take less than five days to finish, don't worry!" he promised. Next to him, Hinata smiled at the blonde's typical confidence.

"Let's go!" he called out, starting towards the gate with Hinata and Hanabi behind him.

"Later fuzzy brows!" Naruto shouted backwards as he suddenly started running, passing through the gate at a sprint and followed closely by both Hyuuga sisters. Watching them leave, Lee's eyes were shining.

"The power of youth!" the green spandex clad ninja exclaimed enthusiastically to himself.

"Gai-sensei, I am filled with energy at the youthful endeavour I have just seen!" he called out, speaking to his teacher as he always did, whether the man was around or not.

XXXXXXXXXX

Inside the forest the three Konoha ninja managed to catch the passionately delivered shout just before the trees muffled any sounds made from outside the fence. Naruto and Hinata shared a smile at the characteristic exuberance shown by their friend, while Hanabi grimaced slightly.

"This is going to be easy!" Naruto called out, and in his excitement he accelerated a little ahead of the other two. Hanabi looked toward her sister.

"Naruto-kun, wait!" the indigo haired girl called out, causing the blonde to turn as he jumped through the trees.

"What?" he asked, slowing down a little so that he was now next to Hinata.

"D-Do you know where we're going?" she enquired. Naruto looked ahead again and then back at the girl beside him with an embarrassed grin.

"Not really" he admitted, slowing down still further. Hinata gave a small smile.

"S-Shall I check ahead?" she asked, eliciting an enthusiastic nod from the blue eyed boy. The three of them slowed down to a complete stop on one of the trees' very large branches.

"Byakugan!" Hinata called out, the veins around her lavender eyes bulging. Naruto watched the girls face as she scanned the surrounding area. Hanabi waited patiently.

"So what do you see?" Naruto asked after a few moments. Hinata waited a few more moments, and was still looking around as she answered.

"There are two t-three man teams that I can see from h-here. The closest one is from the G-Grass country and is a-about five hundred metres away a-and heading in a direction that will take them a few h-hundred metres in front of our p-position" Hinata quickly moved onto the second trio of ninja.

"T-The other team is over eight hundred metres a-away and heading away from us. I don't t-think they will be a problem" she ventured. Naruto nodded and smiled.

"Right! Let's get those guys coming towards us!" he exclaimed, before looking at Hinata appraisingly.

"Your technique is amazing Hinata, it'd be great to have you as a team mate all the time!" he told the lavender eyed girl who was still looking around. Hinata blushed at the compliment and suddenly found it hard to concentrate on the task at hand, imagining life as a permanent member of the blonde's team. Her thoughts were interrupted by said blonde's voice.

"Hey Hinata, you listening?" Naruto asked, observing the face of the usually pale girl as it reddened. Slightly away from the other two, Hanabi sighed slightly and activated her own doujutsu.

"_They're getting closer…"_ the brown haired Hyuuga thought to herself. But as her sister had said, the enemy ninja were going to end up in front of their current position.

"_As long as they don't detect us…"_ she told herself. The girl looked back at the two older ninja.

"You're not coming down with something are you?" Naruto wondered aloud, beginning to raise a hand, and Hanabi could see what was coming.

"Nee-chan!" the young girl called, causing her older sister to snap out of her daze, deactivate her technique, and focus on Hanabi.

"Y-Yes?" Hinata managed.

"I think this is a good opportunity to do what we talked about" Hanabi suggested, and her sister's eyes widened in realisation of what she meant. Hinata nodded her agreement and Hanabi leapt away, her long brown hair trailing behind her. For his part Naruto was confused; alternately looking between Hinata and Hanabi's retreating back.

"What did she mean?" he asked of the still slightly blushing girl. Hinata looked back at the blonde.

"S-She's going to move a little ahead and s-stay undetected using her Byakugan. If we then m-move in behind this approaching team w-we can surround them" she informed him. Naruto nodded appreciatively.

"That's a good plan" he acknowledged, and Hinata smiled slightly at the accolade.

"T-That's not the whole plan though, but I don't have t-time to explain, we n-need to move now" she told him.

"I'll follow you" he replied, nodding. Hinata looked ahead again and reactivated her doujutsu. Instantly the world appeared in much greater focus, albeit with most of the colour sucked out so that everything appeared in a different shade of grey. Concentrating slightly, Hinata's lavender eyes focused a few hundred metres ahead and caught the movement of the three Grass ninja. Checking for signs that they had been noticed and finding nothing, the indigo haired girl leapt off in pursuit, followed quickly by Naruto behind her.

XXXXXXXXXX

Now sprinting through the forest, Sho smiled to himself.

"_Being with the other two is great…"_ he thought to himself, before pausing at the thought of Eri.

"_Well, most of the time…"_ he considered. But this freedom, that he only got occasionally…

"_...is brilliant!"_ he finished inwardly, leaping off the side of two trees and revelling in the moment.

XXXXXXXXXX

They had been following the Grass country ninja now for about ten minutes, and Hinata could see that Naruto was getting a little impatient. Using her clan's eye technique Hinata could see that her sister was keeping up with the three Grass ninja and was to the East of them, but the effort required to stay undetected and make sure that no other teams were close was slowly wearing the two Hyuuga sisters down.

"_We'll have to attack soon. Otherwise we risk another team appearing and getting involved in a three way fight"_ Hinata thought to herself. She looked over at Naruto beside her.

"A-Are you ready Naruto-kun?" she asked of the blonde. Naruto grinned back at her.

"Is she ready?" he replied, looking back ahead and searching for the three enemy ninja just up ahead.

Reactivating her Byakugan, Hinata checked her sister's position. Once again the world went grey, and she relied on Naruto to warn her of any abnormalities as they ran. Spying her sister, Hinata focused in and saw that the young girl had produced a small notebook and was quickly writing on it. Hinata focused on the paper.

'They're stopping' the indigo haired girl read quickly, before immediately shifting her gaze forwards.

Sure enough, the three Grass ninja were stopping about two hundred metres ahead, though she and Naruto were fortunately still concealed behind a number of large trees. Slightly in front of Naruto, Hinata skidded to a halt on a wide branch, moulding chakra at her feet to stop herself more quickly while her flowing hair caught up with the rest of her, causing it to run around her face.

Noticing his team mate stopping, Naruto copied the movement, sliding next to Hinata and stopping just behind her. As he stopped, the blonde noticed the girl produce a small pad of paper and a pencil and was about to ask the question when Hinata spoke.

"H-Having two Byakugan users means we c-can communicate like this" Hinata explained quietly, finishing her note and activating her doujutsu. Naruto looked at the piece of paper she had just written on.

"Are you in position?" he muttered softly to himself, reading. He looked up to see the veins around Hinata's eyes bulging.

"Naruto-kun, c-could you look out in front of us please? T-They've stopped" the girl murmured, concentrating on what her sister was writing over half a kilometre away. Naruto nodded and stepped in front of the lavender eyed girl, starting to scan the area immediately ahead.

XXXXXXXXXX

Now in front of the rest of her team, and a little to the East, Hanabi was concentrating on what her sister was writing. Dividing her attention between the three Grass ninja on her right, making sure that no-one else was approaching, and communicating with her sister was hard.

"_But if we can catch these three unawares we can get what we need from this exam right now"_ she told herself, reading from her sister's pad.

'Are you in position?' the brown haired Hyuuga read, taking up her pencil quickly to respond. Diverting her attention to the three resting Grass ninja to make sure they were not about to move, Hanabi started to write on the paper.

'Yes. But how shall we attack?' she scribbled hurriedly, waiting for the response. Her white eyes left the Grass trio and Hanabi quickly scanned the surrounding area behind her. Finding nothing, the young girl focused her attention back on her team mates.

'We are going to move in. When they are distracted, make your move' Hanabi read, nodding to herself.

'Understood' she replied simply, relieved. It was quite an exhausting task to focus and refocus the Byakugan so much, and though Hanabi had previously had her eye technique activated for longer than this, she hadn't really ever needed to utilise the doujutsu's range capability to the extent she just had.

"_But I am doing this exam because father thinks I am able to"_ she told herself, scanning the area behind her one last time before concentrating on the action ahead.

XXXXXXXXXX

'Understood' Hinata read, before deactivating her Byakugan and then turning to the blonde boy next to her. Naruto stopped observing the space in front of the two of them to turn to the long haired girl.

"Are we going then?" he asked quietly, though he was unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. Hinata nodded.

"O-Once they are occupied with us, Hanabi-imouto w-will take them by surprise" she explained. Naruto grinned.

"Let's go then!" he said a little more loudly, readying himself to leap away. But he could see Hinata had one last thing to say before they made their move.

"W-We shouldn't try to attract too much attention, o-or we'll end up with too l-large a battle" she cautioned the blonde timidly.

"Okay, keep it down. Promise" he repeated, the grin still on his face. He nodded forwards, and got an affirmative nod back from the lavender eyed girl. As one, the two Konoha ninja leapt from the branch they were standing on.

Immediately, trees started to fly by as they ran, and Hinata realised that Naruto was accelerating in a straight line towards the three Grass ninja up ahead.

Matching his speed, Hinata ducked to avoid a low branch and then leapt from the side of four trees in rapid succession, manoeuvring herself so that she was now on Naruto's left.

Briefly glancing left, Naruto saw the pale girl moving beside him and witnessed the telltale sign of her technique activating as the veins around her eyes swelled to provide the blood required to fuel the doujutsu.

Now that they were less than a hundred metres away Hinata felt a needed surge of adrenalin at the imminent prospect of a fight, and a second later the two of them burst out of the treetops above and rocketed down towards the three Grass ninja seated on the forest floor below.

Now that he was out in the open in the mini clearing, Naruto could see that two of the three Grass ninja were on alert, though for the moment too surprised by the sudden entrance of Hinata and himself.

Making the first attack, Naruto unholstered three kunai and threw them down at the nearest ninja who was partially concealed in the long grass, but had yet to realise the danger he was in. A split second later, Hinata followed suit, cutting off the escape of the now alerted shinobi by throwing her knives ahead of him.

But the two Konoha inhabitants had little time to watch the outcome of their own attacks, as the other two Grass ninja had by now leapt backwards and thrown their own kunai towards the attacking Leaf-nin.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto called, forming the handseals that he could easily perform in his sleep, and out of the smoke next to the blonde boy appeared a clone that whisked its master out of the way of the incoming attacks, before landing and joining the real Naruto in attacking the two standing Kusagakure ninja.

For her part Hinata merely twisted in the air, and using her chakra enhanced palms, batted away the oncoming kunai, watching as the trapped Grass shinobi was hit repeatedly in the back, legs and head by the multiple sharp weapons she and Naruto had thrown. Her eyes widened a moment later as the ninja exploded into a pile of leaves, and using her Byakugan she searched for the location of the real Grass shinobi.

Meanwhile, Naruto and his clone were still occupied with the two visible Kusagakure ninja, and though the blonde and his clone had been split up, both were starting to get the upper hand in each of their fights.

Parrying the punch of the larger of the two ninja with his right arm, the cloned Naruto spun on his heel and whipped out a fist which was just dodged by the Grass shinobi. Unfortunately for him, as he dodged the ninja in front of Naruto unbalanced himself, and the shadow clone took the opportunity, crouching quickly to whip out a leg and send the unlucky Grass-nin upwards. Now in the air, the defenceless ninja was unable to stop the blonde as he spun on his other foot and rammed his left elbow into the opposing shinobi's stomach, sending him flying. Looking satisfied with itself, the shadow clone then leapt forwards, aiming to follow up the blow.

The real Naruto was having a little more trouble with his opponent. Though the short Grass ninja was nowhere near as good a fighter as the blonde, he was quick. Throwing a few more punches, and easily dodging the slightly wild replies of his opponent, Naruto frowned.

"_I can't land a hit…"_ he thought to himself as the Grass ninja leapt backwards into a crouched position, creating some distance between the two of them. Using the opportunity, Naruto again formed the seals for his signature technique.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he shouted, this time creating five clones. But in the time he had taken to create the extra clones, the dark haired ninja who had retreated had launched his own attack, throwing a number of shuriken at the shadow clone that the blonde had created earlier.

Naruto watched as the shuriken sped just above the ground, cutting through the tall grass of the small clearing, before suddenly rising and hitting the distant clone in the side and back, causing it to disappear in a cloud of white smoke.

"You didn't make good enough use of the initiative" the Grass ninja informed him with a smug smile.

But his smile faltered as the short ninja felt an abrupt pain in his spine.

"And you don't pay enough attention to what's around you" Hanabi stated unemotionally, her white eyes suddenly bulging as she stepped back.

Naruto's eyes widened as the small girls' hands briefly became a blur as she closed all the tenketsu's in the stunned Grass-nin's arms and legs, reducing the person in front of her to the equivalent of a training dummy. The Kusagakure shinobi could only grunt in pain as he fell face first into the ground, unable to even break his fall due to his disabled arms and legs. Standing over him, Hanabi breathed out slowly as her eyes returned to normal, her left hand outstretched and her right one down by her hip.

All six Naruto's looked impressed, and watched as the small Hyuuga girl bent down and retrieved the hitai-ate from the forehead of the fallen Grass-nin.

XXXXXXXXXX

A little way away, Hinata was in pursuit of the third Grass ninja who had escaped the combined attack of both her and Naruto. Still, using her Byakugan, the lavender eyed girl had been able to maintain contact with the elusive shinobi who had made good, if not expert use of clones to try and distract the Hyuuga heir.

"_But I can see your chakra network…"_ Hinata thought to herself, feeling slightly sorry for the fleeing Kusagakure inhabitant. Shaking the feeling, the indigo haired girl focused on the shinobi in front of her, and she noticed that another figure was coming into view.

"_He wasn't fleeing…"_ Hinata thought, realising that they had now gone in one large circle, and were in fact back to where Naruto had been fighting.

"_He was running to his other team mates!"_ she told herself, watching as the second person stood up unsteadily and then leapt away with the first. Hinata focused her doujutsu and looked to see where they were going.

"_Naruto-kun, Hanabi-imouto…they've defeated one of them!"_ she thought triumphantly, accelerating to catch up with the other two Grass ninja ahead of her.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto watched as Hanabi made her way towards him and his clones, breathing a little heavily. The blondes looked at her, concerned.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked. The brown haired girl nodded, but he could see scratches on her bare arms as well as on her dark three quarter length shorts. The hitai-ate tied around her thigh was also dirty. The young girl noticed the attention she was getting and tried to explain the marks away.

"I came here as quickly as I could…" she explained, her hand motioning to the various dirty marks over her clothes. Naruto smiled at her.

"Good job, we just need to find-" Naruto began, as three figures burst from the trees above. The first landed next to the fallen Grass ninja and immediately crouched down next to him, checking his pulse. The second person skidded in front of Naruto, and the blonde instantly recognised him as the person his clone had sent flying not five minutes earlier. The third person was…

"-Hinata" said Naruto, finishing his sentence. The lavender eyed girl landed right next to both Naruto and Hanabi and turned towards the blonde, her long hair settling around her shoulders as she stopped.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata exclaimed, slightly out of breath. Naruto put his hand on Hanabi's shoulder.

"Stay here and rest" he told her.

"Me and Hinata will take care of these two" he finished, looking at the newly arrived lavender eyed girl, who nodded. Naruto pointed his fist towards the ninja he had hit earlier.

"You're going down! You think you had trouble with one of us, try six!" he shouted as all of the Naruto's began to run at the Kusagakure shinobi.

Hinata was about to follow suit, and run at the ninja next to the disabled shinobi when she suddenly felt something was wrong. Activating her Byakugan, the girl was just in time to see a pulse of chakra emanate from the crouching Grass-nin, as his hand was placed to the floor.

"Ninpo: Kusaha (1)" he murmured, and Hinata's enhanced eyes widened as the grass that had been cut by the fallen shinobi instantly became impregnated with chakra, making it razor sharp.

"Naruto-kun!" the lavender eyed girl shouted in warning as she shoved her sister outside of the range of the technique. As she did so the chakra saturated grass shot into the air and towards the Hyuuga heir, as well as the oblivious blonde.

Now not concentrating on anything else other than the sharp green needles surrounding and speeding towards her, Hinata channelled chakra to her hands, creating the blades that were the essential part of her technique. Bright lines of chakra sliced through the air, though the indigo haired girl was focusing more on the thickness of the chakra than the length. She refused to open her eyes until the last moment; such was the level of her concentration on channelling chakra and increasing the speed of her hands.

Judging the timing to the last second, Hinata opened her eyes.

"Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō!" she shouted, watching the chakra infused grass as it was repelled again and again by her technique.

"_Please be okay Naruto-kun"_ Hinata thought desperately, taking a look at the Grass shinobi in front of her. Her eyes widened at the smile on his face.

XXXXXXXXXX

Fortunately for Naruto the shouted warning the Hyuuga girl had given him allowed the blonde just enough time to react before the chakra saturated grass shot into the air and towards him. As well as that, unlike the girl, he was not surrounded by the needle sharp plant flying through the air and so was able to perform an instinctual escape.

Leaping upwards, each of the five clones grabbed his arms and flung their master high into the air and far away from the incoming attack, and Naruto watched from above as each of the clones were pierced a split second later by the sharp chakra infused grass. The blonde smiled, noticing the small form of Hinata surrounded by a dome of chakra, and Hanabi stood behind a tree, safe from the barrage. As he started to drop back down to earth his smile turned to a look of concentration as he spied the Grass-nin in front of the indigo haired girl.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I'm not done yet" the Kusagakure shinobi murmured, looking into Hinata's surprised eyes as he sent another wave of chakra into the ground. At first the Konoha kunoichi thought nothing had happened. The sudden searing pain in the bottoms of her feet immediately convinced her otherwise.

"AHH!" the lavender eyed girl cried out, losing concentration and allowing some of the razor sharp needles to enter the dome of chakra she had created. Trying to rectify the situation, Hinata pumped out more chakra to plug the gap, but the damage had already been done. The pale girl felt a slash across her right arm and then another two on her leg, causing her to stagger slightly. As pain shot through her feet again a fourth needle-sharp attack penetrated her thigh and she finally fell to her knees, the rest of the dome quickly beginning to fade as she did so.

Unable to watch the attack break through, Hinata closed her eyes.

XXXXXXXXXX

Watching from above as he dropped ground wards, Naruto knew something was wrong even before the pale girl cried out, and as soon as he did hear the pained cry of the Hyuuga heiress, the blonde redoubled his efforts to return to the ground.

Leaping from tree to tree, Naruto angled his speeding descent to perfection, allowing his final chakra boosted jump to push himself from the underside of a branch, snapping the limb of the tree with the force of the acceleration. As he rocketed downwards, the blue eyed boy began to mold chakra in his right hand, though the telltale whooshing noise made by the ball of chakra was lost in the sound of his swift arrival.

"_I've got to make it!"_ he thought to himself desperately, before to his horror the girl inside the dome dropped to her knees, the chakra around her starting to fade while the bombardment of the blueish hemisphere continued. There was nothing he could do now but hope.

Suddenly, the Grass-nin looked up and noticed him, the smile on his face disappearing, and Naruto noticed the onslaught that was directed at Hinata lessen. The attack dropped even further as the Kusagakure shinobi hauled the fallen ninja to his shoulder, and leapt backwards just as Naruto was about to hit the floor.

"Rasengan!" Naruto screamed at the top of his voice, his arm outstretched as he hit the ground at an incredible speed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Looking on, Hanabi saw the explosion caused by the blonde's impact throw the laden Grass-nin backwards and away from the three Konoha ninja, and both Naruto and Hinata were abruptly obscured by the smoke and dust that had been kicked up by the orange clad arrival. Shielding her eyes, the young Hyuuga activated her doujutsu, despite the headache she was now starting to get.

XXXXXXXXXX

Standing up from his crouching position in the middle of the crater he had created, Naruto looked around desperately for the injured girl amid the dust and smoke.

"Hinata!" the blonde shouted. His head whipped round at the sound of a female voice, and through the smoke ran Hanabi, grabbing Naruto's arm in the rush to lead him to her older sister.

"She's over here!" the brown haired girl exclaimed, leading him.

They found Hinata on her hands and knees, her hair curtained around her face, breathing raggedly. Her two team mates sprinted over.

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted again, causing the lavender eyed kunoichi to look up.

"Naruto-kun…Hanabi-imouto" she managed to murmur. The blonde boy skidded to her side and knelt next to her, taking a look at the injuries the indigo haired girl had sustained. Hanabi could only stand and watch.

"Hinata, you're hurt" Naruto told her, dumbly. Despite the pain in her feet and legs, Hinata laughed slightly.

"They're j-just flesh wounds" she replied softly. Naruto looked at her skeptically.

"T-They just hurt… a lot" she continued, wincing.

"If you hadn't…" she tailed off, not finishing the sentence.

"I wouldn't leave you like that" he reassured her. He looked at the bloody mess that the bottoms of both feet had become. It looked like plants had sprouted through the soft underneath of her feet, through her sandals.

"You're bleeding quite badly, I'll bandage your feet up at least" he decided, cutting away the stems of the plants that had penetrated the skin. From the looks of things, they hadn't gone all the way through, and had just anchored themselves in the underside of her feet. The bits left inside presented more of a problem.

"This is going to hurt Hinata, okay?" the blonde asked. The pale girl nodded slowly, looking even whiter than usual. Naruto gripped the ends of the plants and pulled slowly. Somehow the indigo haired girl managed to suppress a scream and it almost physically hurt the blonde boy to see the contorted look of pain on Hinata's kind face, but he had to make sure that nothing was left in her feet that could infect her.

"They need to be c-cleaned" she told him, gasping slightly as the pain subsided to a more manageable level.

"There's a river about a kilometer away from here" Hanabi informed the two of them, as Naruto quickly wrapped temporary bandages around the injured girls' feet.

"I can't walk…" Hinata murmured quietly. Naruto chuckled softly and lifted Hinata to her knees, brushing the hair out of her face.

"Then you'll have to take a ride" he told her, crouching down in front of the lavender eyed girl and raising her arms to his shoulders. Though Naruto couldn't see it, Hinata looked sad.

"I guess I am a burden…" she muttered forlornly. But to Naruto's surprise Hanabi got there before he did, and a lot more angrily.

"Don't be stupid! You saved me remember!" the younger Hyuuga sibling retorted, annoyed.

"But if you don't believe in yourself more, then you will be…" the brown haired girl muttered.

"I'm sorry…" Hinata apologized as she wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck, a small blush now on her cheeks. The blonde looked round and stood up, grabbing the backs of Hinata's legs and pulling her close to him, and the injured girl gasped slightly as she felt a pain stab through her thigh. Naruto's face became a picture of concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly. The blushing girl nodded.

"I-It's nothing…" she assured him, though the blue eyed boy still looked concerned.

"_And I can really see how blue __your eyes are when we're this close"_ Hinata thought before she could stop herself, as Naruto continued to stare at her. She blushed even redder at the thought, the pain in her feet taking a back seat to the feeling of being pressed up against the blonde. Noticing the look between the two, Hanabi coughed pointedly.

"We should go, that explosion might have earned us some unwanted attention" the white eyed girl pointed out, causing Naruto to grin in embarrassment.

"I guess I broke that promise, sorry" he murmured contritely, looking behind him at the girl on his back. Hinata shook her head.

"I-I'm glad you did. T-Thank you" she managed, causing the blonde's grin to change to a wide smile.

"Ready?" he asked her, tensing the muscles in his legs and nodding for Hanabi to take the lead. The moment Hinata gave the okay; all three Konoha ninja were flying through the air.

XXXXXXXXXX

(1) Ninja technique: Blades of Grass. Another literal translation, as far as I can tell.

Now officially the longest chapter of this story! Nearly six thousand words… The third of those three Grass ninja was definitely the strongest huh? Everything seemed to just flow while I was writing it… I can't explain it. Maybe it's the music; I always listen to music while I'm writing these, at the moment its Star Wars stuff (don't judge me; you know you love it too). I think next chapter I'm going to finally reveal what Sho can do. Hopefully you'll be impressed. Anyway, I'm gonna go now. Sleep and stuff. I will be answering reviews shortly (next coupla days).

Later.


	27. All Alone? Sho in Action

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. Hey everyone. So, I'm finally reading the manga… I'm planning to do this properly so I'm starting from the beginning. Don't worry; I'm not going to give anything away once I do eventually pass where the anime is, though I might tell people what chapter I'm on. By the way, please, please, please don't give me any spoilers. I might have to kill you…

Chapter 27: All Alone!? Sho in Action

Riding on Naruto's back was quite an experience for Hinata, the long haired girl pressed firmly against the blonde's back, and held in place by his strong hands underneath her legs. Not only that but every time he jumped from one branch to the next there would be a brief moment when her body would rub against his, and the poor indigo haired girl would have serious trouble staying conscious.

Her face was already flushed, and she was continually worrying whether Naruto could feel the amount of heat she was giving out from the rest of her body through his back. It was almost physically impossible for them to be any closer.

Until Hinata let her chin drop on his shoulder.

"You tired Hinata?" Naruto asked, turning his head to his right slightly and reducing the distance between their faces to mere inches. Momentarily fixated on his blue eyes, his words filtered through to her brain slowly.

"_His eyes are so blue…"_ she told herself, before the lavender eyed girl realised what she had just done. Backtracking quickly and lifting her head up, her eyes suddenly filled with worry.

"N-no!" she managed, her voice higher pitched than normal. The spiky haired boy smiled at her nervousness.

"If you're comfortable there then that's fine" he told her, jerking his head towards his shoulder before turning back round with a grin.

"_Geez…"_ Naruto thought to himself.

"…_she always acts like she thinks she's troubling everyone…"_ he finished inwardly, continuing to leap from tree to tree.

Meanwhile, Hinata was still recovering…

"_If I'm comfortable there…?"_ she asked herself timorously, looking at the right side of his still grinning face. Slowly, she lowered her chin back down to his shoulder, tilting her head to the left to rest it against his neck.

"_Naruto-kun may not mean anything by it…"_ she told herself.

"_But I can't faint here"_ she decided, her arms wrapped around his neck clutching more tightly to him.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sound of freshly running water was oddly comforting to the two twins, perhaps due to the fact it was a sound that almost anyone could be familiar with in such a foreign environment.

Also comforting, to Eri at least, was the presence of the towering rocky cliff and the stony environment that was around the river.

"_This is a perfect environment for me…"_ she considered, assessing the terrain with her narrowed dark green eyes before looking over at her sister.

Just in front of her twin, Mihoto was kneeling at the riverside and filling a few canteens with the cold clear water flowing in front of her. They had moved reasonably fast for the past hour in order to get to the river quickly but the cost, Mihoto tiring, meant that they had to wait a while before moving on.

"_Take as much time as you need"_ Eri told her sister silently, watching as the Rock kunoichi once again drew out paper and ink and proceeded to seal away the three containers of water. The standing twin focused on Mihoto's small, pale hands as they worked expertly and Eri felt a burst of pride in her heart at her sister. That she had come this far was nothing short of a miracle.

"_No…"_ the brooding twin corrected herself, thinking back.

"_It was no miracle… she worked hard, every day, to reach this point. There was no divine intervention, no lucky break; it was __all__ her determination, her belief…"_ Eri told herself, though she didn't need reminding. She had been there through it all.

Her gaze drifted from her sister's hands across the rest of her figure. The copper and silver trench coat and pants covered Mihoto's entire body, saving the head and hands. It was just like hers, their identical hair and faces combining with their clothes to make them almost indistinguishable to anyone other than a keen observer, or someone who knew them.

"_But if someone could look underneath…"_ Eri contemplated, watching as the three canteens disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

"_The story would be completely different"_ she finished inwardly, glancing down at herself.

In the large coat you couldn't tell, but Eri had filled out in the past few years. Though she didn't consider herself anything other than average in terms of both looks and size, she didn't really care. What she did care about was her strength, and she was proud of the fact that she was one of the most physically powerful girls of her age group in Iwagakure, despite the fact that many had already been elevated to Chuunin level.

Conversely Mihoto was, and always had been, weak. But it was not meant as a derogatory term, her sister had been extremely physically weak ever since she was born, and it showed in her figure underneath the heavy trench coat. She was fifteen but had the physical strength of a ten year old, and her stamina was even worse. Even now, after years of training and hard work to improve her strength she would still tire easily, could only run at high speeds for very short periods and her punches carried little to no threat.

"_And yet…"_ Eri thought sadly.

"_I think you're probably stronger than me…"_ she silently admitted, though not angrily, or bitterly, but proudly.

"_But there are still things that need to be done…"_ she reminded herself, watching as Mihoto slipped away the newly sealed paper into her coat.

Satisfied, the kneeling girl looked up at her sister.

"Are you sure you rested enough?" Eri asked quietly, once again checking the surroundings. Mihoto nodded, smiling and noting the look on her sister's face.

"A few more minutes, and I'll be fine, thanks" she replied gratefully. And she was grateful. Though Eri was quick to anger, terse, and often distant, Mihoto knew that her sister really did care for her.

"_Though you don't show it so obviously… actions __do__ speak louder than words"_ the girl thought silently, knowing the reason for her twin's nature full well. But the one thing Eri was unfailingly accommodating for was her sibling's physical condition.

"_And for that, I am always grateful"_ Mihoto told herself, for the thousandth time.

"Food is next, do you have any on you?" her sister enquired curtly. Mihoto nodded, still smiling.

"But I think we should get some here, there's no sense wasting what we have stored" she pointed out. A grunt of agreement emerged from her unreceptive sibling and she moved out of the way, allowing Eri to crouch next to her.

Channelling chakra and watching the clear water closely, the brooding twin waited for her moment. Mihoto watched as her sister saw her opportunity and slammed her palm downwards onto the ground below. As she did so three rocky spikes burst almost instantaneously from underneath the water and impaled three fish, before continuing their rise out of the water and stopping just in front of the two siblings.

"Thanks" the smiling girl said, taking the fish from the spikes just as they began to collapse.

As her sister began to prepare a fire, Eri stood up and scanned the area again. Mihoto looked up as her twin frowned.

"We're being watched, aren't we?" she said brightly, gaining a nod in reply.

XXXXXXXXXX

Now sitting on the ground in front of the river and unwrapping her bandages, Hinata realised the journey on Naruto's back had ended far too quickly for her liking. It had been as if only a few moments had passed since she had rested on his shoulder and for the long haired girl, it hadn't been long enough.

"_No…I shouldn't be selfish"_ she remonstrated with her thoughts inwardly.

"_Naruto-kun was carrying me because I'm injured, and his team mate" _she told herself.

"_But…It __was__ nice…comfortable…"_ she admitted silently, blushing slightly as she finished unravelling both of the bloody dressings. She steeled herself for the pain of removing them completely, and gasped as she tore them away.

"Are you okay Hinata?" Naruto asked worriedly, receiving a small smile and an affirmative noise from the indigo haired ninja indicating she was fine. The blond relaxed a little, watching the girl sitting at his feet gingerly bathe her wounds. His attention was distracted by a hand tapping his arm.

"Hmm…?" he murmured, turning slowly towards the other member of his team.

"I'm going to check the surrounding area. We don't want anyone ambushing us" Hanabi told him, stepping slightly away from the two at the riverside.

"Sure!" he agreed, watching as the small girl raised her hands and channelled chakra to her eyes. He turned back to the injured kunoichi at sitting the riverside as Hanabi proceeded to check the area.

Now having finished washing her feet, Hinata began to channel chakra, and Naruto's eyes widened as a green aura engulfed the pale girls' hand.

"You know medical ninjutsu?" he asked incredulously, obviously impressed. Looking up at the blonde, Hinata shook her head.

"N-No… this is only good for s-shallow flesh wounds. It's a f-first aid technique…" she explained, disappointed that she had to let Naruto down.

"That's still pretty useful Hinata" Naruto told her, noticing the tone of her voice.

The lavender eyed girl smiled as she lifted her foot and twisted her leg so that the sole of her foot was facing upwards.

"_That wound looks bad…"_ Naruto thought to himself, watching her lower her glowing hand to the injury. The long haired girl bit her lip in pain, before raising her hand again and withdrawing something from a pouch at her side.

"That's the ointment you gave me in the Chuunin exams!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing at the small tin she had just produced.

"_He remembered that?"_ Hinata asked herself, shocked. She forced herself to respond to the mini-outburst.

"I-I've actually improved it s-since then" she admitted, rubbing it over the bottom of her foot delicately. The wound hissed slightly and once again the Hyuuga girl felt pain stab through the soles of her feet, before the medicines effects took hold and the area slowly went numb. To finish the job, Hinata wrapped her foot in a fresh set of bandages, ensuring the wound stayed clean.

"We're safe" Hanabi muttered, glancing at the other two of her team mates, deactivating her technique and wincing slightly. The constant use of the Byakugan had tested her limits and the small girl held her head, massaging her temples to relieve herself of some of the pain.

Not hearing the brown haired girl, Naruto found himself watching the look of concentration in Hinata's face in fascination as the girl in front of him repeated her earlier movements on her other foot, cleaning and dressing the wound quickly.

But the Hyuuga girl wasn't finished yet. Shifting the long indigo locks of hair that had fallen in front of her eyes, before activating her doujutsu, Hinata identified the tenketsu's around her feet and methodically pressed her Jyuuken enhanced fingers into each one, increasing the flow of chakra to the injured areas.

"There…" Hinata breathed, shifting herself into a crossed legged position. Naruto grinned down at the sitting girl.

"So, you ready to go?" he enquired brightly. He regretted the question as Hinata hung her head.

"N-No, sorry. E-Even with the increased b-body response from the first aid, t-the ointment and the extra c-chakra, it's not completely h-healed" she said dejectedly.

"How long until you can fight again?" he asked, concerned.

"A-At least a day, m-maybe two. P-Perhaps even longer… I-I don't know…" she confessed. Her worried eyes met Naruto's. To her surprise they were not full of annoyance, or even disappointment.

"Well, we need some rest and food anyway!" he said, raising his hands to the back of his head and stretching.

"I-It is going to get dark s-soon…" Hinata considered.

"We also have one forehead protector already" Hanabi pointed out, rejoining the two of them.

"I'll take first watch" Naruto decided, looking between the two girls.

"You need to recover from your injury" he told Hinata.

"And you look beat" Naruto informed Hanabi. The brown haired girl regarded him with a haughty stare, but the blonde had already turned away.

"W-We should probably conceal ourselves a l-little better" Hinata suggested, to Naruto's approval.

"We'll just go a little into the forest. We'll be better off there" he decided, offering Hinata his back again.

XXXXXXXXXX

It had taken him a while, but at last Sho had managed to detect the presence of foreign shinobi moving ahead of him. Though he had been running across the branches, his sharp brown eyes had caught sight of a few broken twigs, and stopping for a closer inspection he had managed to identify the partially removed tracks of three ninja.

"_Perfect"_ he thought to himself, beginning his sprint in the direction of the tracks. He had found an entire team rather than an individual, or a pair.

"_I can complete my task quickly" _the tall Rock ninja thought as he ran, scanning ahead again. The tracks were leading upwards, into the trees, and he followed them as carefully as he could, while still maintaining his pace.

"_These tracks seem a little too close together… Hmm?"_ Sho thought, grinning to himself as he felt the presence of two ninja coming at him, one from either side. A third shinobi appeared on the branch ahead, causing the dark haired boy to latch on.

"_Fake tracks huh?"_ he asked himself, leaping into the air and somersaulting over the waiting ninja in front of him. Seconds later he heard the sound of two explosions, and as he looked into the area he had just been in he saw two large blast marks.

Sliding to a stop upon the long limb of another tree, Sho analysed the team of Shinobi. The waiting person who had presumably set up the fake tracks had been joined by his two team mates.

"Not bad!" the Iwagakure shinobi called out to his attackers with a smile, focusing on their forehead protectors.

"_Konoha ninja… Good thing Eri's not here…"_ he told himself as one of the three replied.

"You're not so bad yourself!" but Sho couldn't fail to notice that the looks on the faces of the three ninja were anything but friendly. Not that it mattered. He saw the one on the right with black hair lean in to her comrades.

"He's only one ninja, and he doesn't have a Hitai-ate on him; we shouldn't waste our time and strength" she advised, causing Sho to smile.

"I could have it hidden!" he called. The three of them looked at him in surprise and he shrugged, changing the subject.

"So… what level missions have you all been on then?" he wondered aloud, getting no response.

"I myself have been on a few B rank missions and even an A, though that was off the record. I think I could do more though" he admitted.

"That's impossible! You're a Genin!" the boy on the left called out. Sho noticed he was wearing knuckle dusters. Sho shrugged again in response.

"That's true, but I am part of a family. That means I was fortunate enough to gain certain… liberties…" he revealed, before continuing.

"I am Chuunin level; unfortunately you do not seem to be. I will not try to kill any of you" he promised, his expression turning serious. The three Genin in front of him drew out their weapons in response and Sho nodded in acknowledgement.

"One last thing before we begin. A hint if you will. I want to prove I am not any sort of clone" he stated, drawing a kunai and cutting himself across the hand. Red blood seeped out of the wound, and true to his word the tall ninja did not burst into a puff of smoke.

"Okay…" Sho breathed, pumping chakra to his legs. A split second later, he launched himself at the three Konoha ninja.

"He's fast!" the girl called out, as the third and as yet silent member of their team leapt backwards, away from the charging Rock shinobi.

"_Ranged type?"_ Sho asked himself. It didn't matter; the boy with the knuckle dusters had placed himself in his path, marking him as the first target.

Arms raised, the boy managed to block Sho's first wide swing with his left arm, protecting his face. The second and third blows followed rapidly and retreating, the Konoha resident began to see the truth in the tall ninja's words. There was absolutely no opportunity for a retaliatory blow.

"_He really is Chuunin level!"_ he told himself as more blows rained down on him. The left arm of the Rock ninja whistled past his face as he leaned back away from the blow, and the Leaf ninja found himself unbalanced.

In an immediate response, one of the long legs of his opponent lashed out and caught his standing right leg, sending him towards the ground. Desperately, the struggling shinobi dropped onto his hands and twisted his body, sending his left leg at the side of the Rock ninja.

Reading the counter perfectly, Sho bent his knees slightly and used his free right arm to parry the incoming leg and continue it on it's way, sending the surprised Konoha-nin off the branch they were fighting on and down towards the ground below.

"_No time for celebration…"_ Sho told himself, as shuriken scythed their way towards him mere moments after the other shinobi was safely away.

Using the momentum he still had from crouching, the tall ninja rolled off the edge of the branch and channelled chakra to his hands, gripping the limb of the tree to swing himself from the underside.

"_There!"_ he shouted inwardly, identifying the location from which the weapons had been thrown. Sure enough, a figure quickly burst out of the concealing foliage, and Sho followed it, using his superior size and speed to close down the distance.

But just as he was in range to attack the figure, the Rock ninja's instincts took hold and leaping backwards, he narrowly avoided the series of explosions that engulfed the running figure.

"_Using a clone to lead me into a trap…Genin level techniques, but used very well…"_ he conceded, turning back towards the area the Bunshin had left from and ignoring the newly formed small fires behind him. As he watched, another figure burst from the hidden area and back towards the area he had been fighting in.

"_I'm not going to be fooled twice!"_ he told himself, drawing and throwing a kunai into the leafy mass as he ran. He had little time to watch a third figure leap away though before he was set upon again, this time by the black haired girl springing from a lower branch.

Finding his legs being attacked in an attempt to send him sprawling, Sho leapt over the sweeping kick and brought his right fist down in a powerful punch, aiming for the kunoichi's face.

Unsurprisingly she had expected the counter and moved her own arms upwards, crossing them to catch the strike of the tall boy. Continuing her spin, the girl grinned, twisting Sho's arm in an attempt to break it.

"_That won't work on me, miss"_ he silently informed her, turning his body in the same direction and whipping out his left leg in order to kick her away. As he did so, his sharp vision caught sight of movement in her right hand.

"_What's that?"_ he asked himself, seeing something gripped between her fingers. His eyes widened a split second later as the still grinning girl flicked her wrist and a concealed blade spun quickly out of the handle. The Rock ninja was caught completely unawares.

"_Crap!"_

She brought her hand down towards his gut just as his kick connected.

"_Just in time…"_ Sho sighed inwardly in relief, watching the black haired girl fly away.

"_A butterfly knife…"_ he thought, quickly remembering the name of the weapon. It was quite an ingenious way to use it, but…

"_You're not trying hard enough"_ he told himself, seeing a tear in his black jacket. Not using any special abilities and just using close combat fighting against three ninja, whose techniques you knew nothing about, probably wasn't a good idea he considered, heading in the direction of the long ranged escapee.

He was spotted by the boy when he was about fifty metres away, and the Rock ninja saw his Leaf counterpart flash through a few seals before three copies of the long ranged ninja appeared and quickly split up.

"_You can't fool someone like that!"_ he warned, already knowing which one was real and heading toward him. It didn't take long for the running boy to notice he had been found out, and once he did he sent another wave of shuriken towards the tall Iwagakure-nin.

"_I should get a little more serious…"_ Sho told himself, raising a hand to his back and finally sliding the broad-headed silver coloured hammer from its strapping on his back. The boy ahead could only watch.

Using the long leather covered shaft, Sho deflected the incoming shuriken expertly, his hand just below the head of the hammer. The silvery hued weapon itself was perfectly weighted so that it could be used to perform such a task, and within seconds the shocked Leaf Genin found himself in front of the towering hammer wielding shinobi.

Quickly recovering and raising a kunai, the smaller boy leapt forwards, attempting to stab the newly arrived Rock ninja. Sho could tell he wasn't a close combat type, lazily parrying the kunai strike one handedly with the head of his hammer before spinning around the back of the off-balance Konoha resident and striking him in the back of the head with the leather bound shaft.

"_That was almost too easy…"_ he considered, lifting the forehead protector from the Genin's brow as he fell onto the branch, unconscious.

But Sho was immediately on alert again as a cry rang through the trees.

"Ikkei!" a voice shouted, followed by the appearance of the boy he had tripped earlier. The Rock shinobi raised his hammer, this time in both hands, as the enraged Konoha-nin finally managed to launch some fist blows towards him, the steel in the hammer hitting the steel of the knuckle dusters.

"_I'm not going to waste my time anymore"_ Sho told himself, releasing one hand from his weapon in order to end the fight.

Two things stopped him. One was the feeling of a rapidly approaching presence and the second was the eye movements of his opponent.

"_Behind me! I have to use it now!"_ Sho realised, channelling chakra across his entire body.

"Yuutai no Jutsu!" he shouted.

"AHHHHH!" a male voice screamed out in pain, a knife sticking out of his body. Blood came from the wound, dirtying the knife and spattering the girl who had made the attack. It took a few seconds for her to realise what had happened.

"Osamu!" the girl screamed, her eyes wide in shock. Sho just stood in his position.

"_I've got to stop messing around and underestimating this lot, that was too close…"_ he told himself, looking at the arm protruding from his heart. No matter how many times he did this, it was always deeply unnerving.

His gaze shifted to the stabbed Konoha ninja still in front of him. Due to the size difference the butterfly knife had gone into the boy's shoulder, though the wound was still quite deep. He had been lucky it hadn't entered his neck.

"You…" he heard behind him, as the arm withdrew from his chest. The knife stayed behind, plugging the wound as best it could. Sho turned around to face the angered girl as the boy named Osamu collapsed to the ground.

"Give up" Sho stated matter-of-factly, bending down to retrieve the forehead protector. The girl started to shake as he placed it in one of the inside pockets of his jacket.

"Your friend needs medical attention and you cannot beat me once I have decided to use my bloodline technique" he reasoned, now returning the hammer in his hand to the strapping on his back.

"Shut up!" the girl screamed, throwing herself at the tall boy in front of her. She didn't notice the boy's eyes turn from their normal dark brown to a lighter and more translucent hue as he looked up and activated his technique.

Her first blow went straight through his face, passing in and out with absolutely no resistance and unbalancing the Konoha kunoichi. She attempted to turn the movement into a kick but that too went straight through the body of the now serious faced ninja and she ended up falling off the edge of the branch.

"Damn it!" she cursed, getting up as Sho made his move, leaping downwards towards the girl and striking downwards, as he had earlier.

Once again, the girl raised crossed arms above her head, waiting for the heavy blow to land. But this time did not go the same as the last.

Activating his technique again, Sho's arm went straight through the two crossed arms of the girl in front of him, before re-materialising millimetres above the girl's head and striking her hard.

Now extremely dizzy, the girl weakly raised an arm to block Sho next, left handed, swing. But once again the arm passed through her guard, striking her in the side of the head, knocking her sideways and onto the hard wood branch.

She barely felt her hitai-ate lift from her forehead as her mind drifted on the edge of consciousness.

"You should have given up. But if you want your friend to survive, stay conscious dammit" Sho told her scornfully. His expression lightened as she managed to raise herself to her knees.

"Good" he acknowledged, turning away and preparing to leave. He looked round one last time.

"I hope he survives" he said, before leaping away.

XXXXXXXXXX

(1) Ethereal body technique. Another literal translation (I hope). If anyone does speak Japanese and I'm getting these horribly wrong, let me know.

Hey. I'm really sorry; I know I promised that the chapter would be out Tuesday night but various things happened. The first was I managed to get my horrible cough back; I had a headache all day that day and a bloody temperature too… Still, I got to writing. Then while I was writing I hit the second problem. I realised that what I was writing would be better placed in the next chapter, in this one it's a bit tacked on… Anyway the upshot was I had written about seven to eight hundred words that I had to make up in the chapter and I just couldn't do it in time… sorry. On a more positive note it means that I have now got some of the next chapter down already. See, silver lining! Just need to know where to look.

Tell me what you think about Sho… most questions will be answered later but if you have any now, go for it.

Later.


	28. How Things Look at Night

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. I'm pretty much up to where the anime is in the manga. By the way, I've come up with an idea for two new stories. They won't be coming out for AGES, cos of work and other stuff. But the ideas are there. I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Chapter 28: How Things Look at Night

It was now completely dark, and according to Naruto's rough calculations, about midnight. The clear skies that had graced the day continued into the night and the lack of cloud cover had given the darkness a crisp coldness, all the heat of the day able to escape into the sky.

The forest was not completely dark though, the moon bathing most of the area in its borrowed light, giving everything a deceptively delicate look. The sounds of the day time had also disappeared, and the nocturnal sounds of the woodland were now the ones Naruto was listening out for changes in.

A small noise aroused his attention.

"Mhmm…" a voice murmured sleepily, and Naruto shifted his gaze to see Hinata move slightly in her sleep.

It was strange, but in the semi darkness it was as if the few exposed areas of the girl's skin on her hands, face and legs gave off a pale light of their own. The strange illusion was only enhanced by the moonlight, and combined with the innocent and contented look on her face; Naruto found himself wondering at how delicate she looked in the moonlight.

The blonde shook himself mentally.

"_She isn't frail…"_ he told himself, thinking of the Hinata he had seen fighting earlier.

"_She's a strong ninja…"_ Naruto thought, smiling to himself.

For another time that night, looking down at her, the blonde haired boy questioned how she could sleep so peacefully without anything to lie on.

"_She might have said that she's used to sleeping like this for pursuit missions, but…"_ he turned his head towards Hanabi, who had packed a thick and warm sleeping bag, which she was now lying in. Naruto found it hard to believe that Hinata never packed one.

"_Though __you__ didn't pack one either this time"_ he told himself. Which was true, mainly because he hadn't planned on sleeping for long enough to justify one. He looked down at the long haired girl again.

"_Still… it's not exactly warm…"_ he considered, looking at the raised pimples on her arms.

As if unconsciously reading his thoughts, Hinata shivered slightly.

"_Thought so…"_ Naruto told himself, as he slipped off his warm orange and black jacket.

Wrapping the garment that still held his body heat around the sleeping girl, Naruto grinned as she gripped a corner of it and smiled, accepting its warmth.

The blonde haired boy looked down at himself in his black T-shirt.

"_The cold will keep me awake I guess"_ he smiled to himself.

His expression fell slightly as his blue eyes once again caught Hinata's injured feet. The bandages on the pale girl looked expertly wrapped, but after seeing the severity of the wounds earlier, Naruto couldn't help but worry about the girl lying next to him.

"_She said she could be out for two days, or more…"_ he thought to himself anxiously.

Well, there was no point in worrying was there? They would have to accept it, or find a way around it. More importantly, he couldn't let Hinata think she was being a burden again.

"_Hanabi got quite angry about that last time. I also made a promise to Shino to support Hinata"_ Naruto told himself determinedly.

Turning from the two sleeping figures, Naruto went back to concentrating on keeping lookout.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_Some people aren't careful enough…"_ Eri thought to herself, watching a piece of uncovered metal catch the moonlight and reveal the position of the hidden ninja.

The kunoichi's dark green eyes went over her surroundings again. Still by the riverside, the two girls had backed themselves up against the cliff bordering it on one side. The rocky wall provided the perfect defensive material for Eri, and had been the reason she had chosen the spot for the two of them to sleep.

In fact, using her earth and rock manipulation techniques, the brown haired girl could have easily hollowed out the side of the cliff and allowed both of them to sleep in total safety, without the need for even one of them to keep lookout.

"_But that went out the window once we were spotted…"_ Eri told herself, annoyed at the concealed ninja lying in wait for not allowing her rest.

Still, there was prospect for a fight, and that fact kept the Iwagakure ninja stimulated enough.

Her eyes caught brief movement off to the left of the first ninja.

That made two. One more than had been watching earlier, and if experience was anything to go by, which it obviously was, the third ninja of the group would also be somewhere close. Eri nudged her sleeping sibling. The two of them were sitting shoulder to shoulder, and they had both made sure that such a small movement would not attract attention.

"Hey, wake up" she whispered. She turned her head to look at the girl sitting next to her and to her surprise; she noticed her eyes were already open.

"There's-"

"A second ninja, I know" Mihoto interrupted softly, her pale face very visible in the moonlight. Eri went back to looking.

"If there's a second-"

"Then there's probably a third" Mihoto cut in again. Eri frowned, still scanning the area.

"Stop it; you know I don't like it when you-"

"Finish your sentences?" Mihoto grinned. Her sister stayed silent.

"Sorry" she apologised.

"Weren't you meant to be asleep? Get some rest, or at least stay quiet" Eri said after a few moments.

"What's the point? They'll attack soon" her twin pointed out, though still quietly. No response.

"_That is the point after all…"_ Mihoto told herself.

Well, the two of them were largely defensively minded ninja anyway. They had stayed out in this open area precisely to get attacked by their observer, but it wasn't like they were unprepared. Eri for example was in a seemingly innocuous position, leaning back on her hands. But that did in fact allow her to manipulate the earth and rock that was in a certain radius around her, depending on how much chakra she pumped into the ground of course.

"_And me…"_ Mihoto considered.

She was ever prepared, and had to be.

"_And no-one knows what I've got up my sleeve"_ she told herself confidently.

The place they had chosen also helped the two girls, though admittedly Eri to a larger degree. The rocky terrain and silt from the river both allowed the girl to utilise her different techniques fairly easily. The river also gave the attacking ninja something else to cross, and was an open space over which anyone could see an attacker coming from a while away.

"_We've got this covered"_ Mihoto reassured herself.

There was another nudge on her arm and Mihoto followed her sister's eyes.

"I see him" she breathed, acknowledging her twin. She could feel the tension in the arm of the girl sitting next to her, and she was sure that Eri could feel the same thing in her.

"Here they come" Eri muttered, the three ninja surrounding them bursting from their cover.

XXXXXXXXXX

Having now completely calmed down from his earlier fight, Sho felt he was finally getting used to why this training area was called 'the forest of death'. It wasn't just the trees that were super sized in here. Earlier on he had seen a beetle the size of a cart, and the Rock ninja could have sworn he saw a tiger that was even bigger in a clearing he had passed a few hours ago. Almost everything seemed to carry a threat

At that moment, his eyes caught something, and the tall ninja stopped himself quickly, landing in a crouched position. Turning slightly he pulled a kunai out of the trunk of the tree he was standing on.

Looking around it was obvious that a battle had taken place, with kunai, shuriken and blast marks littering the vicinity, and some weapons even had fresh blood on them. But the lack of sound and any detectable presence had convinced the boy that whatever had happened was now over.

The usual sight that accompanied violent killings of course was having blood spread everywhere, across trees, the ground, and obviously on various weapons scattered across the area. The bodies of the defeated team would be strewn around all over the place and there could be a severed limb or two, perhaps even a head.

And had that been the case, the tall Iwagakure shinobi would not have liked it, but he would have been able to stomach it. He had been a ninja long enough now and had enough mission experience for it not to faze him, bearing in mind he was seventeen, two years older than his other two team mates, and some of the other competition. Such sights were, if not common, regular enough and Sho had prepared himself for all the possibilities coming into the exam.

Gazing downwards, the black jacketed shinobi scanned the entire dimly lit area from a high position, quickly identifying the three victims below with a frown. Leaping to the forest floor, his eyes widened at the injuries the first of them had sustained.

"Burns…" he breathed, moving closer for a better look. Now that he was nearer, Sho could see that the sleeves of the ninja's outfit were dull yellow, almost saffron colour. But the blackened holes in that outfit were what had drawn his attention, on top of the fact that the skin underneath had reddened to a scarlet colour. Reaching out, the dark haired boy found the areas of reddened bare flesh shiny and smooth to the touch.

"_That's quite a high degree of burn… third degree at least"_ he considered silently, looking over the rest of the body.

The hitai-ate of the nameless shinobi was of course missing, and Sho fingered the forehead protectors he had stolen idly, unconsciously making sure they were still there as he checked for other injuries. Finding none, Sho pulled a face.

"So how has this guy been killed?" he wondered aloud, moving onto the next body.

It was pretty much the same story, though this time as well as the burns across the arms, there were more over the torso. Not only that but this ninja had been hit a few times with various weapons. He hadn't bled out though, and once again Sho found himself at a loss as to how the ninja in front of him had died.

Cogs still turning, the Rock shinobi moved onto the last victim, lying face down in the dirt.

Taking one look at the face of the fallen shinobi, Sho nearly dropped the body he was lifting up.

"_His features have been completely burned off…"_ he thought to himself in shock. But that didn't tell the whole story.

The black handprint on the dead ninja's face had burned right through to the skull, charring the bone. It was almost certainly the way he had been killed, and the tall Iwagakure boy didn't want to think about the kind of person that could inflict that kind of death on someone.

It was then the pieces fell into place, why the other two died but there was no discernable reason.

"_Electrical burns…"_ Sho told himself, thinking of the smooth red marks on the skin of two of the three dead. Their hearts had most likely stopped due to the electricity that had gone through their bodies and induced cardiac arrest, though the dark haired boy had no idea exactly how the electricity had been able to hit so many different places and burn the victims so badly.

"_It does mean that whoever has done this was probably from the Cloud village"_ he considered. They did specialise in lightning based jutsu after all.

"_But to inflict __this__ on someone…they must have continued even after the guy was dead…"_ he thought, glancing at the faceless victim briefly.

Getting up and searching the area, Sho tried to identify in which direction the attackers had gone afterwards. He sighed in relief at the sight of a trail leading away from the tower.

"_I don't want to have to deal with them yet…"_ he admitted.

Not just that, but it was dark now and Sho knew that soon he would have to rest. Since he was alone, that meant far more preparation than if he had been with the rest of his team.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rising from her crouched position and lowering her arms to her sides, Mihoto let out a measured breath. Despite the lack of breeze in the dimly lit area, her coat seemed to flutter.

"That was even easier than I thought it would be" Eri grumbled from behind her. Her sister smiled.

"It was only three versus two" she considered, turning towards her complaining twin and watching her pick her way through the fallen boulders.

"_She caused most of that cliffside to collapse… she tried more than she's letting on"_ Mihoto told herself.

"And we let them go… we shouldn't have done that" Eri protested. She looked around the area her sister had been fighting. Weapons of different types littered the ground, as well as scorch marks and some craters.

"_You didn't even nearly go all out… against two of them"_ she said silently, impressed.

"Well one of them has a broken arm now, and another one's going to be unconscious for quite a while. They won't be back" Mihoto reasoned.

"Besides… I have one of these" she said, producing a Grass-nin forehead protector from her trench coat. Her twin made a noise in the back of her throat.

"Hmph… I got one too" she revealed, pulling out an identical one from her own copper coloured coat.

"But we shouldn't need them…" Eri muttered forebodingly. Mihoto smiled brightly.

"Then they're insurance, right?" she asked. Eri glanced at her sister darkly.

"If he doesn't get three by himself, he's not as good as he should be…" she murmured. Mihoto continued smiling.

"He'll get them" she assured her sister, returning the hitai-ate to the inside of her coat. Eri shrugged non-commitally.

"We'll leave in the morning. Get some more rest" she told her sister.

XXXXXXXXXX

Slowly but surely, Hinata found herself waking up, the first few thoughts slowly running through her mind as she regained consciousness.

"_Mmmm…"_

"_Warm…"_

"_What's that smell? Like some sort of food… kind of…"_

She spent a few moments sleepily wondering about that, before discovering something else.

"_I'm holding on to something…"_

"_A blanket? I don't have one with me…"_

Slightly puzzled, Hinata found herself unwilling to open her eyes just yet and instead let the thought pass for the moment. A few minutes later, eyes still closed, the resting girl found another question flitting across her mind.

"_What's the time?"_ she asked herself.

Unable to work out the answer in her current state, Hinata finally came to the decision that she would have to get up.

She cautiously opened her lavender eyes, and saw two blue ones staring down at her. She took a few seconds to comprehend what she was seeing, but as she did her pale face began to suffuse with a pinkish tint, and she instinctively tightened her grip on the warm object covering her, pulling it closer.

"You're awake" Naruto commented, pushing himself from the tree he was sitting against and giving the girl looking up at him a smile. The blush moving across her face continued its spread, and she looked down at the thing she was clutching hold of.

"_Naruto-kun's jacket!"_ she realised, barely preventing a gasp.

"_That explains the smell… it was ramen…"_ she told herself, the colour in her face deepening. A sudden thought entered her head that didn't help her embarrassment.

"_What must I look like? I'm holding it so close!"_ she asked herself, before her thoughts were interrupted by the spiky haired blonde still gazing downwards.

"Er… can I get that back?" Naruto asked. Hinata blinked.

"It's quite cold" he explained, rubbing his bare arms. Taking off his jacket had meant that he was only wearing the black T-shirt to protect him from the cold and Hinata sat up quickly to return it to him.

"S-Sorry!" she apologised, holding it out with her head bowed. The blush on her face was still evident. Naruto chuckled.

"Don't be, you looked cold and it kept me awake" he replied as he began to put it back on. Watching him do so, Hinata was determined to get words out, something that wasn't an apology.

Naruto himself couldn't help but notice that his orange and black jacket had picked up some of the indigo haired girls' scent, and he inhaled slightly more deeply than he would have normally as he zipped it up. The lavender aroma was oddly calming to the normally hyperactive blonde.

"_I must be a little tired"_ he told himself, rubbing an eye gently.

"W-What time is it?" she asked timorously, observing his movement.

"Approaching dawn, I think about four. Maybe" he responded with a grin, focusing back on the girl. Hinata looked shocked.

"I-I slept too long!" the long haired kunoichi apologised, silently cursing herself for doing so again.

"It's okay" Naruto smiled holding his hands out.

"I-I'll keep watch, y-you should get some sleep" Hinata told him, feeling bad that Naruto had stayed up for so long.

"I'm good, really. I have just been sitting here after all" he answered with a laugh. As if to demonstrate the point, he leaned back on the tree he had been resting on before.

Still unsure, Hinata fell silent as he looked into the sky. Joining him in his star gazing, the lavender eyed girl noticed the lack of clouds that gave a clear view of the entire night sky, though the trees did obscure some of the heavens.

There were a few moments of silence in the moon and starlit darkness, before the blue eyed boy spoke up.

"You know, I've been staring up at these all night, but I don't know a single constellation" he admitted, scratching the back of his head. The two of them turned their heads towards each other at the same time, their eyes briefly meeting before Hinata's dropped down to the floor.

"I-I know a few…" Hinata managed, her index fingers doing a little dance close to her chest.

"Really?" Naruto asked. The Hyuuga girl nodded nervously, looking into the sky for a minute or so. Identifying one, she looked over at the blonde.

"D-Do you see that?" Hinata pointed, moving her arm in a sweeping movement up at the sky. Naruto followed her movements but wasn't in the right position. He laughed slightly.

"Where?" he enquired, moving from under the tree and next to the sitting girl. Blushing slightly at the contact, Hinata pointed again. Naruto followed her finger by placing his chin on her arm, unaware of the continuing effect he was having on the pale girl beside him.

"T-There" Hinata managed, turning from the sky to look at the blonde who was now sitting up straight and observing the stars with a frown.

"Kind of a pan shape? Or a wagon, if it had wheels on the bottom…" he considered, looking back at the indigo haired girl who nodded.

"Mmm… I-It's called the big dipper" she informed him, watching with a small smile as he returned to looking at his first constellation.

"The big dipper huh?" he murmured. He quickly turned back to the surprised girl, his face alight.

"What else?" he asked inquisitively. Hinata tore her gaze away from his sparkling eyes and looked into the sky again.

"C-Can you see the 'l-lip' of the 'pan' o-on the big dipper? T-The two stars?" she asked, directing his eyes with her hand movements again.

"Uh-huh" Naruto confirmed.

"I-If you follow those t-two upwards there's a s-single bright star. T-That's the North Star" she enlightened him, watching his eyes travel upwards.

"And it's called the North Star because…" Naruto trailed off, trying to get her to keep talking. Hinata giggled slightly.

"I-It always points north" she revealed, smiling at Naruto's knowing grin.

"That's' useful!" he enthused.

"Any more?" the blonde wondered aloud. Hinata searched the skies and blushed.

"T-There's one more that I k-know…" she disclosed, returning to her fidgeting. Naruto raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah?" he enquired, allowing her to speak.

"Ano… H-Here" she indicated with her finger, pointing out four stars. Once again she reddened as she found Naruto's head close to hers, following her pointing finger.

"_Thank god it's dark so he can't see"_ she told herself, still worried that the heat from her face would be able to be felt by the boy.

"It's kind of like a bucket. Or something…" he said uncertainly.

"I-It's meant to be s-scales…" she informed him quietly. The blonde frowned.

"Like weighing scales?" he asked, still unsure. Hinata nodded.

Looking back at the formation of stars, the blue eyed boy shrugged.

"What's it called?" he requested.

"L-Libra… a-and…" Hinata paused, blushing. Naruto let her finish.

"…I-It's your star s-sign" she revealed. Naruto's eyes widened.

"Really?" he asked in amazement. Hinata nodded. The blonde let out a breath, taking another look at the sky.

"Cool! Thanks Hinata" he said warmly. Her blush deepening, the lavender eyed girl made a small noise of acceptance in the back of her throat. Naruto's smile at her gradually turned into a yawn and Hinata once again became concerned.

"A-Are you sure you don't w-want some sleep?" Hinata wondered aloud, watching him do so. Naruto blinked sleepily at her, moisture in his eyes.

"Maybe I'll lie down. But I'm not sleeping!" he emphasized. Hinata smiled as he lay back on the ground, his head resting in his hands as he looked up at the sky.

"Know any others then?" he asked, nodding towards the heavens. Hinata looked up for a moment and then shook her head.

"I-I think the trees are in the w-way, or it's not the r-right time of year…" she admitted, before falling silent again.

Accepting this, the blonde's eyes travelled downwards, and he once again caught sight of Hinata's bandaged feet. Grimacing, Naruto turned to the indigo haired girl who was now checking the area.

"How are your feet?" he enquired, stifling another yawn. Hinata looked at him in surprise.

"O-Okay, thank you… I-I'll try walking t-tomorrow. I don't w-want to be a burden…" she admitted, thinking of him carrying her. She reddened at the thought.

Lying back down, Naruto grinned.

"Its okay" he told her sincerely.

"You're not a burden, and if you need me to carry you, I'll do it" he closed his eyes and laughed quietly.

"We could even come up with a fighting style like that…" he murmured. Hinata smiled slightly.

"Thank you" she said quietly. Eyes half open, Naruto chuckled.

"Don't mention it" he replied, and both of them fell silent for a few minutes.

Once again, it was the spiky haired blonde who broke the silence.

"Hey, have you ever looked up at the sky and wondered if someone else is doing the same thing?" Naruto asked sleepily, his head drooping.

Hinata turned bright red, instantly knowing the answer to the question. She turned round slowly, unsure how to vocalise her thoughts coherently. Her eyes were to the floor as she began.

"Er… I… Er…" she began, before finally looking up. She breathed out slowly.

Naruto had fallen asleep. She didn't know whether to be relieved or upset. She settled for looking down at the sleeping form of the blonde, a small blush covering her face as she did so.

_"Naruto-kun..."_ Hinata thought to herself.

"_Sasuke…"_ Naruto thought, before finally slipping into total unconsciousness.

XXXXXXXXXX

Well, that's that. I'm sorry for still keeping Mihoto's technique secret but I have to leave something for later don't I? Speaking of later, I have a four thousand word essay to do for next week. It's an important one, so I need to concentrate. That means no more chapters until after the twentieth at least, sorry. I was actually going to get this out sooner but I spent eleven hours in the library on Thursday and about five or six yesterday, so I'm quite tired…

Hope you all understand.

Later.


	29. Unseen Threat

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. Thanks for waiting everyone. That essay really was a bitch. Not cos of the content though. It was the library… narrows eyes darkly. I wont go into it because its one of my few rant subjects and it'll end up longer than the chapter itself. Hehe. Enjoy.

Chapter 29: Unseen Threat

During Hinata's watch the sky had been slowly brightening. From the starlit darkness of the night, through the grey half light that came before the dawn and then at last to the dawn itself, everything gradually gaining colour until the sun rose over the horizon and bathed everything in the bright radiance of the morning.

Though the fact she had to keep checking the area for enemies meant that she could have been able to enjoy the dawn scenery a lot more. The fact that nothing had in fact happened to justify missing the sunrise didn't upset the quiet girl like it might have annoyed another person. A certain blonde person for example.

Dawn had passed now though, and the indigo haired girl continued her vigil as noon approached, the sun moving higher and higher into the sky.

"_I should wake the other two up soon"_ Hinata told herself, looking down at her younger sister and the orange clad boy splayed out on the ground next her. She looked down at her feet, not in trepidation, but to inspect the bandages covering them.

"_Hopefully I'll be able to stand again today"_ she thought. Her hands found the ruined sandals she had been wearing when the plants had pierced the soles of her feet. They still had blood on them.

"_And I didn't bring another pair…"_ she realised. Though spare footwear wouldn't be top of many ninja's lists of essential items, she considered with a small smile. A small noise on her left interrupted her thoughts.

Wriggling out of her small sleeping bag, Hanabi looked over at her sister leaning against a tree a few feet away. The warmth of the day had comfortably woken up the small girl, and the amount of sleep she had been allowed also meant that she was immediately alert.

"_My headache's gone"_ the younger Hyuuga sister told herself, raising a hand to her temple before addressing Hinata.

"What time is it nee-chan?" the long brown haired girl asked as she stood to rid herself of the stiffness in her muscles that the night had produced. Her white eyes briefly scanned the area as her sister replied.

"It's approaching noon" Hinata informed her sister, watching her small form stretch.

"Did you sleep well?" she enquired after a few seconds. Hanabi nodded.

"Any sign of other teams?" she asked in reply. Hinata shook her head. Hanabi seemed to accept this, and indicated towards the sleeping blonde.

"You should wake him up" she stated simply, before turning and crouching down to put away her sleeping bag. For her part, Hinata turned towards the sleeping form next to her. She spent a brief moment leaning over him and looking down at his calm sleeping face, before realising what she was doing and admonishing herself for it.

"N-Naruto-kun. I-It's time to get up Naruto-kun" she tried, to no avail. Tentatively, the indigo haired girl put a hand to his shoulder and shook it gently, repeating her softly spoken request for him to rise.

This got a small groan.

"_He's really not a morning person…"_ she thought with an internal smile. She spoke up again, noticing his eyes scrunch up in the now bright light.

"N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata coaxed, again gently nudging him. She almost leapt back in surprise when his hand suddenly rose to his face, shielding his blue eyes.

"Ohayou Hinata" the blonde murmured, still squinting at her despite the fact his hand was covering his eyes. She gave him a small smile.

"O-Ohayou Naruto-kun" Hinata replied, caught in his stare. She watched as he smiled back at her and then sat up, peering groggily at a patch of grass in front of him.

It was about at the point that, from nowhere, he leapt to his feet.

"How long have I been sleeping? It's really bright! It's not already afternoon is it? I always oversleep!" the blonde cried, looking at the other two desperately. Both sisters fixed him with stares, though each giving a completely different message.

Hanabi shook her head imperceptibly, the mixed look of surprise and disbelief erasing itself from her features as she gave an inaudible sigh and returned to repacking her bag.

"I-It's okay Naruto-kun, it's still morning" she consoled, causing the blonde to calm down and grin at his outburst. Hinata smiled back, albeit with a slight blush.

A small but pointed cough from Hanabi allowed the two of them to focus, though it didn't help the older Hyuuga's colour.

"I've finished" the brown haired girl stated. Naruto's serious face broke into another winning smile.

"Let's go then!" he exclaimed excitedly. Both girls looked at him blankly.

The lack of reaction from his team mates sparked a neurone in the spiky haired boy's head. Hanabi looked on blankly.

"Err, N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata began, looking down at her bandaged feet. Naruto's eyes followed hers, and then widened.

"Oh. Oh! I'm so sorry Hinata! Tiredness and…" he apologised with a grin and a nervous laugh. The indigo haired girl shook her head to indicate it was okay, but the blonde evidently still felt bad.

"Do you think you can walk today? Cos if not you can still…" he inquired, before motioning towards his back.

"I-I'll try standing" she stuttered as she attempted to fight the blush, failing miserably as the blonde offered help down to her.

Taking the proffered hand Hinata raised herself onto her feet, wincing slightly as the raw areas of her soles pressed into the ground. As she took a few tentative steps she couldn't help but notice Naruto was still holding her hand, offering her support.

Watching a few metres away, Hanabi could already tell what the outcome would be. She was proved right as her sister shook her head.

"I-I can walk, but that isn't g-good enough is it?" she asked rhetorically, a noticeable hint of disappointment in her voice. But the words had hardly left her mouth before Naruto grinned at her and turned, placing the hand that he was holding on his shoulder.

"If you need more time then that's fine" he said cheerfully, nodding to Hanabi as Hinata tentatively climbed back onto him.

"So, where to?" he asked jokingly.

"I-I should rewrap my feet" Hinata admitted quietly, still very nervous due to her and the blonde's closeness.

"Right! Back to the river!" he exclaimed, setting off between the trees.

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, some distance upriver, a battle was taking place. The harsh sound of metal hitting metal, and the dull thud of metal hitting wood could be easily heard above the natural sounds of the forest. Those sounds of combat were punctuated by the occasional explosion, and even, at one point, a falling tree.

Had there been an onlooker standing at the riverside during the skirmish they would have seen very little of the fight going on in the treetops. However they would have most definitely run the risk of being hit by a stray weapon. Kunai and shuriken had already made it out of the trees and had buried themselves in the ground next to the water, some even falling into the river itself and embedding themselves in the riverbed.

So it wouldn't have been very surprising to an onlooker, had there been one, when another sort of ninja gear flashed from between the branches and smashed into the ground at the riverside.

However, what might have surprised anyone looking was the way the suspicious purple coloured liquid previously contained in the bottle trickled into the river before slowly dissolving in the water as it was carried downstream.

XXXXXXXXXX

"It looks like everything has been arranged" the Hokage nodded to her assistant standing in front of her desk, handing the report back. Shizune looked uncomfortable as she took it. Her expression certainly didn't match the bright weather outside.

"Are you sure a two week gap between the exams is okay?" she questioned, making her views quite clear.

"The Third Hokage always gave the examinees a month…" the dark haired woman continued, the pig in her arms nodding an agreement.

"That old man took far too much time over everything. And why wait to invite the leaders of the different countries?" she replied, looking her long time attendant directly in the eye.

The young woman recoiled slightly, wondering if there would be some sort of outburst from the blonde village leader. Shizune was equal parts surprised and relieved when all that came out was another sigh.

"_Something must be wrong…"_ she thought to herself worriedly. She looked up as the Fifth Hokage spoke up again.

"You need to stop stressing about the little details. You're not the Hokage you know" Tsunade pointed out, a wry smile on her face. Shizune smiled back, though more cheerfully.

"Well, you know what they say about right hand men- and women. We hold the real power" she joked, turning and exiting the room.

"I need a drink" Tsunade muttered as the door swung shut.

"Later!" a harder and almost unrecognisable voice echoed through the door, before the sound of footsteps faded away. The golden eyed woman glared accusingly at the door for a moment, and then her gaze dropped.

"You can come out now" she called out.

The words had barely left her lips before a masked figure materialised in front of the Hokage's desk. Tsunade leant back in her chair as she looked up at the ANBU operative.

"Report" she instructed. The figure nodded.

"As yet we have not found Saga Keiji's murderer. However, we have been able to come a number of conclusions" the male voice stopped for a moment, then carried on at the Hokage's signal.

"Firstly we do not believe this was the work of a foreign ninja, though it has not been completely ruled out. We are for example still investigating his mission history for any incidents that might have caused a grudge or something similar, but as yet we cannot find suitable motive that would justify the danger of infiltrating the village" the masked shinobi explained. Tsunade nodded at this, thoroughness was essential in a case like this.

"However the relative unimportance of the victim and the fact he was attacked in his own home and not on the street both point toward the fact that his killer knew exactly where to go and so was from Konoha. The preciseness of the kill also indicates the killer knew the layout of the victim's home. This moves me on to our next conclusion"

The Hokage raised a blonde eyebrow.

"Wait. This murder was committed by a Konoha ninja?" she enquired. The ANBU operative nodded.

"This is what we believe" he replied neutrally. She gave a wave, indicating that he should finish.

"We also believe that the murderer was highly skilled, ANBU level" he saw Tsunade's eyes widen slightly at the revelation, but resumed his report.

"The cleanness of the kill, the obvious lack of resistance on the part of the victim and the fact we can find no evidence of a murderer other than the dead body all support this conclusion" he stated. The Hokage frowned.

"So, you're saying that a Konoha resident of ANBU level snuck into the house of a Chuunin, murdered him in cold blood, and then escaped leaving no trace?" she enquired. It looked like the man standing at the desk was about to answer, but he was interrupted.

"I have to say, do you have any idea what the motive for this killing was?" she wondered aloud, slightly accusingly. The reporting shinobi paused.

"No. I'm afraid to say we have no evidence or any other leads to go on" he admitted. Tsunade smiled inwardly, an ironic thought entering her head.

"_I guess asking local residents whether they saw a ninja in the area at the time would yield some interesting results" _she said to herself. She regarded the ANBU member opposite her with a resigned look.

"Good work. You may go" she instructed. The shinobi vanished almost immediately, leaving Tsunade alone with her thoughts.

"_The only one with motive at the moment is Naruto…"_ she realised. But it was true what she had said to Shizune. If Naruto had done it, people would definitely have known. And the body would have looked a lot different.

"_A single stab to the heart is not Naruto. Plus… ANBU level…"_ she considered, losing herself slightly in her thoughts.

"_Geez, its times like these I __really__ need a drink"_ she told herself. Forcing herself into concentration, she reevaluated the facts.

"_Konoha ninja, ANBU class"_ she thought to herself. Taking those two facts alone, and not believing that any ninja under her command would do such a thing…

"_That leaves… that person…?"_ she asked herself, a dark figure rising in her mind. But what possible motive could he have for wanting someone like Saga's murder?

"_Am I missing something? Did they miss something?"_ Tsunade wondered, dragging the murder case file out of a pile of paperwork. She looked over the notes already there.

"This doesn't make any sense…" she muttered, adding a few more scribbles to the file.

Either way, there wasn't enough evidence to support any theory.

XXXXXXXXXX

The river shimmered dazzlingly in the late morning sunshine, a small area of peace surrounded by menacingly towering trees and man eating bugs. The sound of flowing water added to the soothing effect of the area, almost allowing any ninja within the training ground to relax. The only real disadvantage was the openness of the terrain.

"_But that can't be helped"_ Hanabi told herself, activating her Byakugan briefly to make sure there was no-one in the immediate area. Satisfied, she walked over to the other two and watched as Naruto gently lowered a blushing Hinata to the riverside.

"T-Thank you Naruto-kun" she heard her sister say timidly, followed by the blonde's bashful response.

"Don't mention it!" he smiled as he stretched and yawned slightly, still a little sleepy.

There was a little moment of silence broken only by the sounds of the forest, and both Naruto and Hanabi found themselves being drawn into watching Hinata carefully unwrap her feet. The two of them snapped out of it at the same time.

"I should keep watch" Hanabi stated, gaining a small nod from her sister and a thumbs up from her blonde team mate.

"Great" he thanked the young girl, crouching down on the right of Hinata as he did so. He witnessed the removal of the last of the first bandage and gave the indigo haired girl a concerned look.

"You okay?" he asked, gaining a blush and a nod from the Hyuuga heiress.

"I-I'll be okay, I h-have to recover quickly" she said determinedly, though the stutter reduced the effect. Naruto gave her an encouraging smile.

Hinata smiled nervously in return, and slowly lowered her foot towards the cold flowing water.

"Hinata wait!" Naruto exclaimed, Hinata's foot inches above the clear waterway. She looked at him inquisitively.

"Could I take a drink before you wash your feet? I'm thirsty" he asked, a small grin on his features. The indigo haired girl nodded.

"S-Sure" she agreed, lifting her foot away from the surface of the river.

The blonde smiled back, lowering his head towards the water. Hinata watched intently as he cupped his hands and lifted the cool clear water to his lips, swallowing the refreshing liquid greedily before going back for more. Hinata smiled to herself at the orange clad boy's manners, or lack of them.

Naruto straightened up, wiping his mouth.

"Ah! That felt good! Although…" he turned to Hinata and stuck his tongue out a little.

"It has a weird aftertaste. Ugh…" he made a face, and then shrugged. As he did so Hinata's eyes caught something floating downriver towards the two of them, and her eyes widened. Naruto was oblivious.

"Guess I should be less picky…" he commented airily. He almost fell over in surprise when the usually timid girl next to him shoved something in front of his face.

"Wha-" he started.

"Swallow it! Now!" she demanded, the fright in her voice cutting through Naruto's normally cotton filled brain. He gulped down the small pill as fast as he could, and then looked into the worried lavender eyes before him.

"Wha-" he began again, before a wave of nausea hit him. Hard.

"D-Don't fight it!" Hinata warned as the blonde clutched his stomach.

Submitting to the effects of the pill Naruto threw up onto the side of the river, the indigo haired girl looking on worriedly. The blonde took a quick breath and a voice called out to the pair.

"What's going on?" Hanabi enquired, rejoining the two other ninja from her previous position away from them. As she reached her sister's side Naruto threw up again and the brown haired girls' eyebrows rose.

Taking a few deep breaths, the gagging blonde regarded Hinata with a confused look.

"Yeah, what'd you do to me?" he asked.

Hinata reached out a hand apologetically, but paused as he continued to be sick. She felt an almost undeniable urge to put a hand on his back and comfort the poor boy. But she couldn't. Putting aside her shyness as a factor, she also owed him a reason for what she did.

"I-I think there was poison in the w-water you drank" she explained as the boy straightened up again. Naruto's eyes widened as Hinata's had done, and Hanabi stiffened slightly.

"Y-You mentioned the water t-tasted strange and there were d-dead fish floating in the r-river" the worried girl continued. Hanabi looked into the flowing water and sure enough a number of silver bodies were floating unnaturally downriver, no sign of any life in any of them.

"W-What I gave you was to m-make you throw it up" she finished. Hanabi nodded, and the confusion in Naruto's eyes slowly turned to understanding. Then he vomited again. Hinata's eyes filled with worry once more.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay? I hope I made it in time…" she murmured the last part quietly and looked at the floor. She looked up worriedly as the blonde coughed.

"Don't worry, I've survived worse than this!" he smiled, wiping his mouth with the hand that wasn't clutching his stomach. His words gave the anxious girl some confidence, but she was still concerned.

"I think that's it. Nothing left in there" Naruto rubbed his belly gingerly. Hanabi regarded him with a disbelieving look making the spiky haired boy laugh slightly, then wince.

"I'm okay, really. Geez, it's painful though. Not a nice pill Hinata" he joked, raising himself slowly to his feet.

"N-Naruto-kun, you should lay d-down! Y-You could still have some p-poison in your system" Hinata warned.

The blonde put a fist in his palm and smiled.

"I'm fine! But we should move you somewhere else, there's no point being here if the river's unsafe" he pointed out, crouching down and offering his back once again.

"But…" the lavender eyed girl tried, to no avail.

"He is right, there's no point in staying here" Hanabi agreed, getting a satisfied nod from Naruto.

"But, when we find somewhere you'll rest for a bit. Just in case" Hanabi stressed, looking between the two of them for approval. Both of the older ninja nodded and Hinata wrapped her arms back around the neck of the blonde.

"I'll go first and make sure everything is safe" the younger Hyuuga stated, activating her bloodline technique and stepping forwards.

Behind her, Naruto turned his head slightly so he could see Hinata.

"She's really quite strict" Naruto murmured, a smile on his face. Hinata half smiled back.

"I-It's a trait she's picked up from father" she whispered. It was a testament to the fact Hiashi preferred Hanabi over her, though she knew she couldn't feel angry at her sister for it.

But somehow the blonde picked up on the tinge of sadness in the girl's voice.

"You're just fine, I like you the way you are" he comforted, following the younger girl across the river.

Having turned back around he had no idea of the blush he had created on the pale girl's face.

"_Likes me the way I am?"_ Hinata asked herself.

"_Me? The stuttering, blushing nervous wreck?"_ she thought, smiling. His words had created a feeling of warmth in the pale girl that went far beyond her face, and was far more comfortable.

Naruto on the other hand was feeling far from comfortable, as for some reason his stomach was still hurting. To the point he had to hold it, which was a little worrying for the blonde.

Unsurprisingly, the differing thoughts of the two ninja were broken by the ten year old Hyuuga in front.

"I've found something!" Hanabi called out. Naruto looked around wildly for a moment before Hinata pointed toward her sister in the trees.

As the two of them approached they could see she was looking at something at the base of a tree. Both Naruto and Hinata had the same question on their minds.

"What is-" the indigo haired girl began. But before she could finish, what Hanabi was looking at came into view.

A body slumped to the side. Dead. More importantly, an open canteen of water sat next to the corpse.

The three ninja stood frozen at the scene in front of them. Naruto broke the silence.

"Y'know, I might just lie down" he mumbled half cheerfully, lowering Hinata to the floor with a grunt. As he straightened up, the blonde clutched his abdomen again and grimaced.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata exclaimed. Hanabi stepped forward but the blonde held an arm up.

"I'm fine, it's just my stomach again" he muttered. The two girls frowned slightly at this, one in worry and the other in exasperation.

Naruto tried to laugh slightly but another wave of pain shot through his midriff, sending him to his knees. The two sisters started forwards, Hinata on her knees to protect her unwrapped feet.

"Hey!" Hanabi called.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata echoed.

"_I'm fine, really…"_ Naruto thought to himself as he hit the floor.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ahhh. It really feels good to finish a chapter. I was a little distracted while writing this, finally bought the sixth series of scrubs and I've been working my way through it. Finished after three days. Hmm? Obsessed? Me? No! Don't be ridiculous... I love the fact that my first two initials are J.D though. On another random note, has anyone else been watching Clannad? I'm such a happy boy. Oh, one last thing before I go. I seem to be getting nine reviews a chapter quite regularly now and I'm past two hundred and fifty reviews. Thank you. Really. Just had to say that.

Later.


	30. Recovery

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. I just finished watching FMA (after 3 days…). The ending was a bit random but the whole thing was very good, I'd recommend it to anyone. Incidentally I've been listening to "Rewrite" by Asian Kung-Fu Generation a lot. For those who don't know it's the fourth ending song to FMA. It too is awesome.

Chapter 30: Recovery

Looking down at the stricken blonde laid out on the floor Hinata felt helpless. He had passed out from the pain and not knowing what sort of poison was affecting the blonde, the two Hyuuga sisters could only make sure the boy was comfortable and hydrated. After all, his stomach contents had been almost completely emptied.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata murmured, wiping the moist brow of the blue eyed boy. Even in his state of unconsciousness he was still evidently in pain. The lavender eyed girl looked down at the area he had clutched before falling to the floor. Standing next to her sister, Hanabi put her hand on her kneeling sister's shoulder. There was a brief moment of silence before she spoke.

"He might well have saved your life. If you had allowed your foot to absorb that poison it would have gone directly into your bloodstream…" Hanabi pointed out. Hinata nodded slowly.

"I know…" she replied, activating her Byakugan and carefully pressing the tenketsu in the area he had clutched, increasing the flow. Hopefully the extra chakra would help.

"I got rid of the body" Hanabi stated flatly. Hinata nodded again and put her hand on top of her sisters.

"I have the forehead protector too…" Hanabi muttered. Her sister made a small affirmatory noise in the back of her throat.

Silence settled over the pair again.

"_Please be okay Naruto-kun"_ she thought to herself anxiously. A painful jolt hit her heart. What if he wasn't? Could he die here, in front of her? The poor indigo haired girl was powerless, and she knew it.

"_You can't die Naruto-kun. You haven't got Sasuke back. The villagers haven't acknowledged you yet. You're not Hokage. You have too much left to do. And…"_

"_I haven't had a chance to tell you how I feel…"_ she thought to herself, managing to stifle back a sob.

But Hanabi noticed the small shudder that went through her sister's body.

"You really care about him, don't you?" she asked, pretty much rhetorically. Hinata nodded anyway, not trusting her voice not to crack.

"_You're not sleeping until he wakes up, are you?"_ Hanabi asked, silently this time.

"You take care of him, I'll keep watch" the younger Hyuuga sister stated, stepping back. Hinata didn't turn around, but did voice her appreciation.

"Thank you"

"One of us needs to take care of him" Hanabi reasoned, taking up a better position.

"_I'm not taking care of him…"_ Hinata thought sadly, looking down at the pain stricken boy.

"_After all he's done for me, without even knowing, all I can do is watch…"_ she told herself.

"_And that's all I can do isn't it? All I __ever__ do is watch you Naruto-kun…"_ she said silently, her vision blurring as she looked down at his face through watery lavender eyes.

But looking down at his face, even as it was contorted in pain, Hinata still found some confidence. Maybe it was the fact he was obviously fighting whatever it was that was hurting him.

"_I won't give up either Naruto-kun"_ she told him.

"_Even if all I can do is be here for you, I'm here"_ she decided.

"I'm here…" she whispered, placing her hand gently in his.

XXXXXXXXXX

Unbeknownst to his two team mates, after drinking from the river, the poison that had managed to move from the blonde boy's stomach and avoid the induced vomiting had moved into his liver. The place he had clutched on his body before he had fallen had in fact been around that area.

Additionally, what Naruto had initially thought was a stomach ache from being sick had gotten worse as he carried Hinata away from the waterway. By the time he had reached Hanabi's position and discovered the dead body, the ache in his abdomen had really started to affect him and when he had lowered Hinata to the ground it was all he could have done not to drop her due to the pain.

It was as the poision remaining in his system fully got to work on his liver that the pain hit its full extent. In truth the poison was not designed to affect the brain at all. However, the damage caused by the effects of the toxic substance inside him was what had caused the usually hardy blonde to pass out.

Now Naruto's body was trying its utmost to relieve itself of the destructive influence of the poison. The damage the insidious material was causing in destroying his liver had managed to elicit an immune response that caused his temperature to spike, as Hinata had noticed.

Unfortunately, even the combined effect of the chemical and immune responses in the blonde boy's body were only very slowly breaking down the poison. In the meantime, his liver was painfully deteriorating due to the relentless effect of the destructive poison.

The only up side was that due to the power of the Kyuubi inside him, the destruction being caused in his poisoned body was healing almost as quickly as it was done. Not that this made the continous damage any less painful for the unconscious blonde of course.

XXXXXXXXXX

Though it had taken a lot more preparation to find and secure a safe sleeping spot than it would have done had he been with the rest his team, Sho was nevertheless generally pleased with his rest.

This was mainly because he didn't get woken up either too early, but gently, by Mihoto, or woken too early, but also incredibly roughly by an angry Eri.

Sho was a boy who liked his sleep. It was not a fact he hid. In fact, given the chance, he would have elected to wake up in the evening after the previous day's escapades.

Unfortunately he knew that even waking in the late afternoon, as he had done, would mean that he would be late for the meeting with his team later in the day. Eri would most likely be annoyed, and Mihoto would probably be worrying.

Still, it was now late evening and the tower was right in front of the tall brown haired boy. If he was any judge of distance, he'd reach the tall structure just as evening turned to night.

Beginning his ascent into the treetops, he found himself going into autopilot as his mind slowly turned over what it had already seen in the forest.

"_Whoever caused the deaths of those ninja yesterday is definitely someone to look out for"_ he considered, immediately thinking through what sort of techniques could produce such effects. In doing so, his mind quite naturally formulated scenarios for defeating such a technique. But his next thought might not have entered many of the minds of the other examinees, at least not with the same level of detail.

"_How could the twins defeat such an opponent?"_ he asked himself. Regrettably, there was not really enough information. He didn't even know whether this person was a close range fighter or not.

"_Still, I'm not compeletely ignorant"_ he told himself, turning his head towards a metallic glint.

The shuriken had been thrown expertly and it was only really bad luck that the rays of the sun had caught it on its rise into the treetops, otherwise the running Rock shinobi would have had almost no time to deal with the incoming weapon.

As it was, he ducked with ample time to spare and quickly searched for where the projectile had come from.

With his head turned however, it was not until he heard the sound of more shuriken flying towards him that he realised the first attack had been a fake.

"Oh, fu-" he began, before the shuriken threw his body backwards and down towards the ground.

"Sho!" a worried voice called out.

"Oh relax, he's fine" Eri muttered darkly as the falling figure full of shuriken was replaced by a log full of shuriken. Mihoto turned to her frowning sister.

"I know, but-" she began.

"He deserved it for being late" Eri interrupted. The blasé comment caused Mihoto to frown.

"That was too close though, what would you have done if you had hit him?" she asked. Eri shrugged.

"I would have wondered how he could call himself a member of his clan" she replied, spying the tall boy making his way through the trees.

"You two are probably the only two in this forest that know one of the ways to beat me" Sho interjected. Mihoto looked him over, checking for injuries.

"Are you okay?" she asked, showing her back to her sister in a deliberate gesture as she lifted up the unprotesting older boys arms and inspected him.

"Don't worry, she didn't even make me use my bloodline" he taunted lightly. Mihoto fixed him with a stare.

"Don't provoke her" she admonished.

"Yeah, don't" Eri stated, fixing him with an infinitely darker stare. Sho laughed slightly.

"You don't normally use conventional weapons, you trying to brush up?" he inquired, playfully ribbing the stoic girl. Eri glowered slightly, and Mihoto sighed.

"I don't see any earth or rock up there do you? And I wouldn't need much to defeat you anyway" Eri countered, a superior look now on her face.

"Geez, the two of you are as bad as one another" Mihoto complained, her eyes moving down to the area Sho's jacket had been ripped.

"What's this?" she asked accusingly, holding up the torn fabric.

"What?" he replied innocently. The girl gave him a hard look, breaking the poor boy's defence instantly.

"I got a little careless…" he explained, before seeing Eri raise an eyebrow in dark amusement. He made a face at the girl before looking down at the unimpressed Mihoto.

"It's no big deal" he stressed, eliciting a sigh from the girl.

"Besides, I got what we needed" he continued, producing the three Konoha hitai-ate's from his jacket.

"Any fatalities?" Eri questioned, seeing the inscribed village symbol on the metal plates. Mihoto gave her a shocked look. Sho too, was taken aback slightly. He shook his head.

Eri's green eyes regarded him with an unreadable look, and there was a moment's silence before she started to walk away from her two other team mates.

"You're too careless, you should work on that" she stated simply.

But as she turned away Sho saw the rare glimmer of a smile on the girls face. Though whether it was because his jacket had been ripped because of his carlessness, or because she enjoyed the playful repartee as much as him, he honestly didn't know.

"We should get some rest too" Mihoto suggested, regarding the tear in his black jacket with one last accusing look.

"Yeah" the dark haired boy agreed, following the two girls.

XXXXXXXXXX

Raising right her hand up from the blonde's forehead, Hinata allowed herself a small sigh of relief. Naruto's fever had gone down, and his breathing had become noticeably more regular over the past few hours. But best of all, in Hinata's opinion, was the fact that the blonde's face had lost the pain filled expression that had been tormenting her for the entire night.

"_And if it looked that painful to an observer…"_ Hinata thought to herself, lowering her hand back into her lap.

Her left hand however, was still in Naruto's, and hadn't left its place since the indigo haired girl had promised to stay with him.

It had been painful at times, and not just to watch, especially when during the worse periods of pain Naruto would clench his hands, crushing Hinata's. But she had never attempted to break free.

"_I don't go back on my words Naruto-kun"_ she had told him silently as he writhed.

And now with the pain seemingly gone, or at least subsided, it was just as if the blonde haired boy was naturally holding her hand. Hinata didn't want to feel any selfish thoughts while he was like this, but now she was able to relax the lavender eyed girl was able to enjoy the experience a little more, allowing her eyes to roam over the sleeping boy's features as she did so.

It didn't take long for the mental stress, the after effects of the adrenalin rush and pure fatigue to take its toll, and Hinata slowly but surely felt her eyelids lower, refusing to stay open any longer.

The most she found she could do as she gradually lost consciousness was lower herself onto the ground next to the sleeping boy and make sure her hand stayed within his.

"_I made a promise… I'll be here…"_ she thought to herself drowsily, as she slipped into the comforting embrace of sleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_So she did fall asleep"_ Hanabi told herself with a small smile on her face.

But that was good news. Her sister wouldn't have given in if Naruto's condition hadn't changed for the better. Still, it was at least a little irritating to be the youngest and the one upon which all the responsibility had been placed.

"_But it wasn't their fault, it was bad luck"_ Hanabi chided herself for her selfish thinking.

She had in fact gone over to the two of them to check on his condition a number of times as the day had progressed. The blonde's condition had gotten worse before it got better, and Hanabi had been able to tell her sister was feeling a painful empathy with the blonde purely by the look on her face each time she had gone over.

The situation had continued as the day turned to night, passed midnight and it had now reached the point where light was filtering across the sky once again.

But now, instead of both ninja wearing the pained expressions of the night before, the incredibly weak morning light revealed two seemingly contented teenagers sleeping side by side, their hands linked.

Stopping herself from staring, the brown haired girl drew out the two forehead protectors they had obtained. One Grass and one Rain.

"_We need one more"_ she told herself.

In fact, she had been the one to gain both of the forehead protectors. She smiled slightly at the thought.

The first had been after disabling the grass ninja, and the second…

The smile disappeared. The death of that ninja had been unsettling to the young shinobi.

She had always been taught that training and skill and strength were the ways to ensure victory and stay alive. She knew that lesson to be true.

She had also been taught what could get you killed, most of which boiled down to carelessness.

She loked at the Rain hitai-ate again.

"_But he died purely by chance. Naruto-san was lucky, it looks like he will survive, but that person was unlucky, and so he __died__. What can you do about luck?"_ she asked herself.

Unable to answer her own question, it was with those troubling thoughts swirling in her mind that Hanabi continued to keep watch.

XXXXXXXXXX

The early morning light turned out not to be enough to wake the heavily sleeping forms of both Naruto and Hinata, and in fact the late morning light fared little better. It eventually took the combined effect of the heat and light of the midday sun to wake one of them up.

Naruto did not rise gracefully, or even close to gracefully. In fact, in propelling the upper half of his body into a sitting position mere seconds after regaining consciousness he not only inadvertently let go of Hinata's hand but also managed to give himself an immediate headache due the the sudden head rush.

There was little time to deal with that though, as almost as soon as he had risen there was a small noise off to his left.

"You're finally awake" Hanabi stated, her eyes blearily looking in the blonde's direction as her petite form slumped tiredly against a tree.

And with that, before Naruto had any chance to protest, or even say a single word, the poor Hyuuga girl who had been keeping watch for the better part of an entire day finally relieved herself of responsibility and allowed herself to close her eyes.

"Hey, wait!" Naruto finally managed to blurt out, but to no avail. The girl's long brown hair was draped down in front of her face like a curtain, and her arms were resting limply by her sides. She was completely out of it.

It was only then the blonde finally took stock of his surroundings and noticed Hinata lying on her front beside him. He also couldn't help but notice the time. It was bright.

"_Have I been out for an entire day?"_ he asked himself, scratching his head in puzzlement with one hand while shielding his eyes with the other. As he did so, there was a small movement next him and the previously sleeping form of Hinata stirred.

"_Was she next to me the entire night?"_ he wondered, watching for another sign of movement.

And somehow, Naruto found himself looking at the girl as she slowly began to wake up. Her head was rested on her outstretched right arm, barely keeping it off of the floor. Her dark hair was looking the worse for wear as it flowed down her back to below her shoulder blades. Some of it had not been kept from the floor and was as such a little dirty and tangled in places where the morning dew had soaked into it.

She stirred again and Naruto noticed her nose twitch slightly, and her eyes scrunch up.

"_Stop staring"_ he told himself, blinking and shaking his head.

"_Must still be tired"_ he assumed, reaching out a hand to gently shake the dozing girl awake.

But before he could touch her, he noticed a small movement down by her side as her left hand shifted slightly and then closed gently, as if trying to grasp something. Finding nothing, her lavender eyes snapped open.

And found blue ones.

"Morning!" Naruto grinned cheerfully, and then frowned slightly.

"Well, actually I think its afternoon but-"

He paused mid-sentence, noticing Hinata's expression of surprise and relief. She quickly raised herself to a sitting position on her knees.

"N-Naruto-kun… Y-You're okay…" she managed, wanting to hug the blonde boy in relief. But her nervousness stopped her.

"Of course I'm okay!" he exclaimed, hitting his fist on his chest with another grin.

"I'll admit it was painful, but-" he stopped himself just in time.

"_-I guess the Kyuubi's not good for nothing"_ he thought to himself, amazed he had almost let his mouth run like that.

He looked down at Hinata again and noted the concern that was still on her face. His smiling expression turned serious as he realised something.

"Did you stay by me the entire night?" he enquired, thinking of how he had found the girl next to him. Hinata blushed slightly and nodded, circling the hand that had been holding Naruto's unconsciously with her finger. Naruto's expression dropped slightly.

"I'm sorry. You were really worried huh?" he asked. The indigo haired girl looked up suddenly.

"O-Of course! B-Because…" she started.

"Because I'm your team mate, right?" he smiled. His smile disappeared as she shook her head.

"N-No… B-Because you're someone p-precious to me…" she said quietly, unable to look at him.

A silence fell over the two of them. Hinata was about to look up, but suddenly found herself pressed against Naruto's chest.

"Naruto-ku-" the girl began, blushing madly.

"Thank you. You're someone precious to me too" the blonde interrupted with a small mumble.

Hinata wasn't sure which experience to enjoy most, the closeness to the boy, whose heart she could feel beating through his jacket or the fact he had called her a precious person.

And then it was over, all too soon for the lavender eyed girls taste. Though she wsn't able to say as much. Surprisingly enough though, she could see he was blushing slightly too.

"Sorry… I just… Sorry…" Naruto apologised, a faint smile illuminating his features. But Hinata felt her heart swell for the blonde boy in front of her. His smile was heartfelt, genuine, and very very… Naruto.

And in a very Hinata way, she blushed.

"N-No… Er…" she smiled back, unable to form full sentences. Still, she had stayed conscious which was a plus.

There was a small silence again.

Until Naruto laughed at her expression, breaking the tension. The indigo haired girl was kind of glad.

"I'm hungry. I'm gonna get some food. Then we can see how your feet are" he proposed, sounding normal again. Hinata nodded shyly as he rose, and then her expression radiated concern again as he clutched his side.

"Nar-" she started, but was cut off by his smile as he straightened up.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine" he assured her.

"Anyway, I think she needs some sleep. We've got time" Naruto said, the amusement evident in his voice as he gestured towards Hanabi.

Hinata finally turned toward her sister.

"Oh! I-I-s she okay?" she asked worriedly. Naruto grinned.

"She fell asleep as soon as I woke up. I don't think she's used to staying up that long" Hinata confirmed his assumption with a nod. It was easy to forget, what with the way she acted most of the time, but the small girl was only ten years old.

"_Thank you for understanding yesterday"_ she thanked her sister silently, making a note in her head to thank her properly later. She looked up at Naruto as he spoke.

"She'll be fine. You should change those; won't they be dirty by now?" he wondered, pointing.

"Mmm…" she agreed with a small smile and a blush, pulling her feet towards her body so she could unwrap the bandages.

"I'll be back in a minute, keep a look out okay?" he asked, gaining a nod from the lavender eyed girl. The blonde seemed to accept this, and started to head away from the two girls in his search for food.

Unwrapping her feet, Hinata began to hum quietly, but happily, to herself.

XXXXXXXXXX

I'm really sorry for the wait. I was away last weekend, and then I've had some really important work to do. Some still needs doing, but most of it's done now. That's how you all got this chapter. Anyway, looks like Hanabi's learning about life in the real (ninja) world huh? And then some NaruHina-ness. Hope you enjoyed.

One last thing before I finish, sorry. I've been nominated for a coupla awards in Jesse Briceno's "Naruto Fanfiction Reader's Choice Awards". I'm in for "Fic of the Year" and "Best Couple Based Fic". They're both incredibly competitive so any support is very welcome. Give it a look if ya want, he's in my favourite authors. If you do end up voting for me, thank you very much. If you do though, it might be important that "Opposites Attract" is capitalised as I have done just there. Maybe, I'm not sure.

I have to mention another fic that is also in the awards, who I want you to vote for. (You don't have to listen to me, but it's a story I'd highly recommend). It is called L::O::V::E, and is written by the author "The Dreamers of Dreams". It is firmly in my favourites. It's running in the "Most Underrated" and the "Best Highschool" categories. At the very least, give it a look, okay? The Dreamers are also up for a best author, so they're covering a lot of the bases.

I'll be looking through the rest of the awards soon, and I'll recommend stories for some of the other categories.

By the way, it's light out right now. Eight o clock ish (in the bloody morning…). I need to sort out my body clock.

Later.


	31. Back to Strength

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. I really have to apologise to everyone. I was planning to get this chapter out for just before the voting closed on the 21st. Stuff happened. My computer has a virus (I may have mentioned that before); I came back from uni, and then I was invited out the night before I went away for four days. Then an opportunity came up to sort out my brother's birthday present (which I've been searching for since January). These are not excuses; it's an explanation and is what happened. I can only say sorry. I am going to try much harder over the next few days and blast a few chapters out.

Hopefully this chapter will begin to make it up. Enjoy.

Chapter 31: Back to Strength

Still feeling light headed from the intimate contact she had experienced with Naruto less than a minute earlier, Hinata found it hard to concentrate on replacing her bandages.

It took her a little while to notice that the pain from her wounds had all but disappeared, the thought only hitting her as she rubbed the disinfecting ointment over her feet and realised that it didn't sting.

After replacing the bandages on both her feet, the indigo haired girl tentatively lowered one foot to the ground, gently pressing the sole down into the soft earth.

No pain. Hinata smiled to herself and placed her other foot down, producing a similar lack of soreness.

"_I can be some use again"_ she told herself, a weight and a feeling of guilt seeming to lift from her shoulders. She almost couldn't wait to tell Naruto the good news.

It was the sleeping form of her sister that stopped her.

XXXXXXXXXX

Awake, Hanabi was mature beyond her years. She was definitely well above others of her age group in terms of fighting ability due to the years of intense tutelage from her father, the inherited benefits of her bloodline and her clan's fighting style. As soon as she was able to walk, the young girl had been taught the basics of the Jyuuken and how to draw chakra from the body. Lessons had progressed from there. Mistakes were not tolerated.

But the stern leader of the Hyuuga household had not stopped at training. Hiashi had forced the young girl to mature quickly by surrounding Hanabi with those much older than her. Conversations, especially with the older members of the clan, had focused on the Hyuuga family and its day to day running. Politics, within the clan and within Konoha as a whole, the role of the head and branch families and obviously missions were all regular topics with which Hanabi found herself becoming familiar. Again, mistakes, and in this case breaches of etiquette, were not accepted.

Furthermore the Hyuuga leader's experience with Hinata had convinced him that allowing his children to enrol in the ninja academy was a bad idea, and in a move that ensured Hanabi would be insulated from the outside world, private tutors had taken care of most of the education of the younger Hyuuga sister. Almost every interaction with those of Hanabi's own age had taken place within the rigid structure of the Hyuuga family and even these meetings always took place in an atmosphere of deference, older members of the family making sure the young girl from main branch was always treated respectfully.

As a result Hanabi had very few, if any, friends.

It was perhaps for that reason that the two sisters had managed to maintain a decent relationship over the years.

Though Hinata was branded as weak for reasons she could barely grasp, her older sister had never given Hanabi reason to dislike her. Hinata had always been there with a kind word or a small smile of encouragement, despite the obvious pain she felt at being rejected by their father. Conversations, though rare, always short, and similarly inconsequential, nevertheless were not awkward.

The fact had remained though that neither sister was close to the other. The five year age difference had not helped.

It was Hiashi's gradual acceptance of Hinata that eventually changed the sister's relationship.

Interaction that had seemingly been discouraged became more accessible, and slowly but surely the two girls had begun to act like sisters. Tentatively at first, and then more confidently later on, each had confided in the other.

Hinata had admitted she felt lonely. She had friends, good friends that she was very grateful of, but there was always a hole inside her that she knew was because of the fact she wasn't really a part of the Hyuuga family. Though their father had begun to acknowledge her a little more, it was still well known that Hiashi did not have high hopes. It was his disappointment that hurt more than his anger.

In response, Hanabi confided that she too felt alone. Though she knew that she was accepted as a Hyuuga by their father and the rest of the clan, there was no-one she could really say she knew. All her existing relationships were based on the fact she was above the other person. No-one really saw her. Not only that but due to the years of insulated existence within the Hyuuga compound, when she could escape the cloying confines of her home she found herself almost completely inept when outside the regimented social structure she had just left. She just wasn't used to people her own age.

It was a sudden realisation that they shared a very similar feeling that had cemented their bond.

Both also saw the irony that each had what the other craved, though neither of them was bitter.

Both had resolved to help the other achieve their goals.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_But looking at her sleeping…"_ Hinata thought to herself. You would just see a ten year old.

"_A ten year old with no childhood. And no friends"_ Hinata reminded herself sadly, deep in thought. At least she had seen her mother, however short a period it had been.

A noise from the undergrowth distracted the indigo haired girl and she turned her head towards the noise, activating her Byakugan as she did so.

"Hey!" a voice called, and as an orange figure appeared, Hinata relaxed. Walking towards her was a pleased looking Naruto holding a large amount of fruit. Some sort of berry, she saw. And from the stains around his mouth it looked like he had already eaten some of his findings.

Plonking himself down in front of the long haired girl, the blonde proffered the fruit.

"It was all I could find that didn't involve eating bugs, but it's good" he assured her as she tentatively tried a few, the girl pushing her gloomy thoughts aside for the moment.

Naruto's smile widened as she took more, placing them delicately in her mouth in a way that contrasted wildly with how he had devoured the wild growing berries earlier.

"They're good right?" he asked, grinning as she took another handful. Hinata nodded enthusiastically, chewing the food in her mouth and swallowing before voicing her answer to his question. Naruto found himself noticing she would never speak with her mouth full. It made him smile.

"Y-Yes, very good. T-Thank you Naruto-kun" she replied, a small smile and a minute blush gracing her features as she went back to eating. He kept his gaze on her as she ate, but quickly averted his eyes as her blush deepened.

His eyes fell on her feet. They had been freshly bandaged.

"Hey! Are they okay? Have you tried walking yet?" he quizzed energetically. He looked up at Hinata again, who swallowed and wiped her mouth before responding.

"K-Kind of, I put my weight down on b-both of them. B-But I haven't run on it y-yet" she admitted. Naruto grinned.

"It'll be fine" he assured her, boosting her confidence in a way no-one else could.

She nodded her reply, and took more of the berries as he offered them. He watched her eat from his arms for a moment, and then proffered the whole lot.

"Here, you shouldn't have to take them from me. I'm done eating" he pointed out. He was a little surprised when she lavender eyed girl shook her head.

"W-We should save some for Hanabi-imouto" she replied, looking over at her peacefully sleeping sister. Naruto looked at the sleeping girl too and nodded. He turned his head back as the quiet girl spoke again.

"Besides… I-I should prepare for when we go" she decided, almost speaking to herself. She lifted herself onto her feet, and before the still fruit laden Naruto could offer any help, rose to a standing position.

"Mmmhmm…" Hinata groaned, stretching languidly as she used muscles that had lain dormant over the past day.

Sitting almost directly below her, and looking upwards, Naruto found himself suddenly looking at the underside of her chest. He whipped his gaze away quickly, hoping Hinata hadn't noticed, at the same time cursing his perverted teacher for pointing out the 'best parts' of seemingly every attractive girl they met throughout their journey together.

"_I'll keep watch, that's what I'll do!"_ he decided, fruit still in his arms.

"I'll keep watch Hinata" he told her, voicing his thoughts to the stretching girl.

"Hai" she replied simply, moving to do a few more useful stretches. She knew that her natural flexibility had to be maintained with a strict training regimen, without which her self devised technique would not have been invented, and definitely not maintained.

And with Naruto telling her that she could relax, Hinata found her mind wandering as her body went through motions it had repeated time and time again. Oddly enough, she thought of her sister.

"_Maybe I should talk to Naruto-kun about her"_ she thought to herself. Hers and Hanabi's talks had covered Naruto, and her younger sister obviously knew about her feelings for the blonde boy but the two of them had actually talked very little.

"_I would like for Naruto-kun to consider her a friend"_ she told herself. Almost absent mindedly, the long haired girl bent over and touched her toes, her hair following in an indigo waterfall.

Still lost in thought, she continued her light exercise, barely remembering the pain in her feet.

XXXXXXXXXX

Back in the centre of Konoha village, two ninja had found themselves at a bit of a loose end.

"So? You haven't got much to do. Make the most of it, that's what I'm doing" Shikamaru advised his friend.

Lying on his back, the dark haired boy was watching the clouds pass lazily overhead as he imparted his advice.

It was a perfect day for cloud watching, the sky was blue but with quite a few high clouds roaming the skies. There was a cool breeze which could hardly be defined as wind, serving the villagers below by stopping the bright sun overhead from baking them and serving Shikamaru by pushing the sluggish white puffs across the sky.

In the lazy Chuunin's book, the conditions were perfect for a day of doing very little. He raised his head up from his hands slightly to observe the reply of his friend.

"Yeah, but I have nothing to do, and you've all got stuff to do" Chouji complained, leaning against the wooden frame that stood above the bench Shikamaru was lying down on.

"Not until tomorrow, technically. For me anyway" Shikamaru corrected. The larger boy frowned.

"What about escorting Temari? I thought-" Chouji started before he was interrupted.

"She's giving me the cold shoulder for some reason" Shikamaru cut in, a small grin on his face as he thought of how well the plan was going. He paused and then shrugged.

"Women are troublesome. Still, you could find Ino" he suggested. Chouji shook his head.

"I've been down to the hospital a few times. All I ever get out of her is 'You're in the way Chouji!' or 'Can't talk, stuff to do!'" the large boy paused.

"She looks quite stressed" he mused. The prostrate pineapple haired ninja chuckled slightly.

"I bet she's loving it" he said. Chouji laughed.

"Yeah…" he conceded. His expression turned thoughtful.

"Actually, before she hurried off somewhere she did mention something about Temari and you"

There was an almost imperceptible change in Shikamaru's expression. Unconsciously, his body stiffened too. Previously leisurely thoughts suddenly began to whirr through his brain.

"_That crazy woman actually talked to Ino about it?!"_ he asked himself incredulously. That was not something he had anticipated.

"_Troublesome…"_ he moaned, inwardly. Fortunately Chouji didn't notice, as he continued his little story.

"I didn't get much out of her though, she was in a hurry. And for some reason she couldn't stop giggling"

The brown haired boy frowned, looking perplexed. His frown turned to a grin and he shrugged.

"I couldn't work it out" he admitted. His friend made a non committal noise.

Shikamaru had restrained himself from getting up and finding either one of the two blondes, though it hadn't in fact taken much effort. It was only his mind that was running at any sort of pace, and he was gradually forcing even that to slow down again.

"_So Ino found it funny? That's __probably__ a good thing"_ he considered. Of course she could have masked hurt or anger with laughter, but it didn't sound likely.

"_She doesn't wait for answers"_ he told himself.

That just left Temari. Who now more than likely knew that he had been screwing with her mind. The future probably held some sort of exquisite revenge. The pineapple haired Chuunin sighed, earning him a look of concern from his friend.

"You alright?" Chouji asked. Shikamaru chuckled again.

"_Nothing I can do anyway. I'm comfortable here too"_ he thought, convinced before even the first thought.

"Yeah" he drawled in reply, allowing the talk to move onto a different topic.

And as the clouds overhead continued leisurely, so did the conversation.

XXXXXXXXXX

There had been no sign of any other teams. Normally, the blonde knew that he would have been upset at the lack of recent action, and chomping at the bit to acquire the next forehead protector.

But while he had kept a watchful eye over the surrounding area, Naruto had found himself drawn to the female figure who was exercising.

The previous light exercise and stretching had become more strenuous, until it had turned into a full workout and similar to what he had seen in the few days they had trained together.

Somehow, Naruto though to himself, she made the whole process look as if she was dancing. Hand thrusts and kicks all flowed into one another, perfectly maintaining both her balance and her momentum. The look in her eyes was different too, rather than the usual demure expression there was a sense of intense concentration.

"_Maybe she's started to believe in herself…"_ he thought, pleased that the damage to her feet didn't seem to be affecting her. She had sounded so beaten when she was blaming herself for the injury.

He lifted his gaze away from the lithely moving girl and took another look around.

Some time passed, the sun moving further across the sky and on its way back down towards the horizon.

He wasn't entirely sure exactly how long he sat there keeping watch (of Hinata, her sister, and the surrounding area). It was a time that could have been measured in hours, but for the entire time Hinata had continued her exercise, Hanabi had slept.

It came as something of a surprise to the blonde then, when Hinata drew her activities to a close. For some reason he had assumed that she would continue until her sister woke.

In fact, Hinata had intended to do something very similar to what the blue eyed boy had been thinking.

"_I will repay the effort you made for us while you sleep"_ had been one of the silent promises Hinata had made to her sister as her mind worked in its freedom from her bodily movements.

In the elder Hyuuga's pale lavender eyes, her injury came second to the need of the other two for a fully functioning team mate. And in order to achieve that she had to ensure her sharpness despite her injury, even if it did involve exercising for hours.

But Hinata had also come to a second decision during her work out. She would talk to Naruto about Hanabi. This was the perfect opportunity, she had decided, to allow her sister to talk to someone other than her, and if everything went well Naruto could introduce Hanabi to more people.

"_Perhaps even those of her own age"_ Hinata thought happily, her mind throwing up a memory of a trio of kids that seemed to idolise the blonde.

The blonde greeted the indigo haired girl with a smile as she approached.

"You were out there a long time" Naruto commented, the smile still on his face. Hinata shook her head slightly.

"I-I usually train for a little l-longer" she admitted as she lowered herself delicately to the floor, brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes as she did so. Naruto looked impressed.

"Really? You should come train with me more often. Most people can't keep up, well, except thick brows and fuzzy eyebrows but they're insane" he looked sideways and found an ambivalent look on Hinata's face.

"Gai-sensei and Lee" he clarified with a grin. Hinata nodded, already having known what he meant. She had been caught by his offer of further contact outside missions.

"O-Okay" Hinata managed. Naruto looked puzzled.

"Okay?" he inquired, replaying the latest part of the conversation in his head.

"Oh, oh. Cool" he laughed at his own slowness.

"Thank you" came the timorous reply.

"Anytime" Naruto smiled. Hinata gave a small smile back, and then blushed.

Silence fell over the pair, and Naruto resumed looking over the region they were sitting in. Unbeknownst to him, Hinata was steeling herself for something.

"A-Actually…" the lavender eyed girl began, her index fingers poking together as they often did when she was feeling under pressure. Naruto turned back to her and looked into her lowered eyes. He waited patiently for her continuation, giving her every sign he was listening.

"I-I have a favour to ask N-Naruto-kun" she said as her eyes shifted to meet his, if only briefly.

"Sure, what is it?" Naruto asked enthusiastically. Hinata smiled slightly at his enthusiasm.

"W-Well… I-It's about Hanabi-imouto…" she began.

And a few minutes later, the lavender eyed girl had explained her little sister's situation to the blue eyed blonde next to her, albeit in a more staggered and stuttered manner than Hinata would have liked.

He had sat and listened calmly throughout, but by the end Naruto had a few questions.

"So basically all she's done up until now has been train and learn?" he asked. Hinata nodded.

"And you want me to be her friend?" he continued. Hinata looked worried for a moment.

"I-I'm not forcing you!" she exclaimed, relaxing as Naruto smiled warmly.

"I-If you just get to know her, m-maybe introduce her to some other people…" she paused.

"S-She's not used to social situations. I-I want to help her find friends" the indigo haired girl explained.

"_Maybe it's because she's a bit like me. I'm not too good around people either"_ she thought to herself.

Naruto, too, was thinking about what he had just heard.

"_No friends…"_ he thought. Similar to how he had been, lonely.

"_Until Iruka believed… and then everyone"_ he looked at the pale, yet flushed girl next to him.

"_Hinata is trying to do the same for her sister"_ he realised.

"I'd love to help" Naruto blurted out, his feelings bypassing his mind and heading straight for his tongue. Hinata looked surprised at the sudden outburst.

"Y-You would?" she replied. Naruto nodded to her, a grin finding its way easily onto his face.

"Yeah. Actually, after we've blitzed this exam I know a few people I could introduce her to" he enthused, staring off into space. The lavender eyed girl nodded.

"T-Thank you" she said, blushing.

"No problem, really" he replied, looking at her again, though somehow she seemed different. Something inside him felt warm in the knowledge that he knew such a good person. He let out a small sigh, and then sprung to his feet.

"I guess I better limber up too!" he laughed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Since taking the temporary posting at the hospital, Ino had come a long way very quickly.

However, it was not her abilities that had improved dramatically, though they had improved. It was her capacity for dealing with some of the worst cases.

After the incident involving Neji, Tsunade had realised that though Ino had been trained quite extensively in the techniques of a medical ninja, she had very little experience in applying those techniques. This short term arrangement, in the eyes of the Hokage, would rectify that problem by immersing the younger blonde in a number of cases that would require the constant use of the techniques she had supposedly mastered.

But that was not the only reason, or even the main one. In a desperate situation, stress was the worst enemy of a medic. A medic under an undue amount of pressure could make mistakes; mistakes which could kill, and though Ino had performed admirably in her first serious case, the mental, physical and emotional stresses that the ordeal had placed on her had meant that afterwards she had been something of a wreck.

Conditions like being in the midst of battle, or having to stay hidden while healing could not be controlled. But experience with the worst wounds, the most serious of cases and the most emotional of situations was something that could be imparted, to great benefit, even if done slowly.

And so Tsunade had encouraged her fellow blonde to work with the doctors in the hospital, and gain the experience she needed.

The first few days had been the worst. She had been placed in the trauma ward to begin with, and had to deal with the constant sight of disfigurement and blood.

In fact, her very first day had involved an amputation of a damaged leg that had become too infected, and even in the controlled environment of the operating room she had felt nauseous.

But as the days had progressed Ino had improved, to the point where the blonde girl couldn't believe she had been only in the place for a little over a week.

The nausea had been the first issue that had been resolved. It had been after she had realised that if she treated the patients as if they were lumps of meat, effectively de-personalising them, she could concentrate on what actually had to be done rather than the wound itself. It had seemed wrong, and she had even asked the Hokage about it and how she dealt with it. Ino had been comforted, but also surprised by the reply.

"If you see them as a person, then you can identify with their pain, and your performance will suffer. It's for their benefit, not ours" Tsunade had told her.

Next had come the joint realisation that her concentration and stamina would have to improve. Healing the small wounds accumulated on small missions, or even the rarer larger wounds was little problem for the girl. But major surgery, throughout the day, was still well beyond her capability. Unlike the issue of queasiness the improvement in her abilities was not instantaneous, far from it. But even day by day she was improving, she knew it.

Not only that, but somehow she was enjoying it.

And now it felt like she had almost settled in. Strange really, since she knew that after the Chuunin exams she would be leaving again to rejoin her team.

"_Still…_" she told herself proudly, as she resumed her studies and opened a book on infections and blood diseases.

"… _I will be leaving as a better medical ninja"_

XXXXXXXXXX

The forest was still bathed in light, but the rays of the sun were beginning to turn a deeper, richer colour, different to the bright, piercing light of earlier in the day.

Sunset was approaching.

Had there been an observer watching the three Konoha ninja, which there wasn't, they might have found it amusing to see both of the conscious ones doing exactly what the other had been doing before.

Hinata watched Naruto.

Though his taijutsu was not the most aesthetically pleasing of fighting styles, at the very least the spiky haired blonde had managed to improve the efficiency of his attacks.

She had stifled giggles when Naruto had summoned a single clone and started to wrestle with it.

"_He always was original"_ she had thought to herself. Even with his exercise techniques.

Looking over the surrounding area at the same time as watching Naruto was an easy task for the Hyuuga, requiring her only to activate her Byakugan every once in a while and scan the area quickly.

However, the indigo haired girl had not checked her sisters sleeping form for a while, enraptured by the orange clad boy's antics and happy to let Hanabi get the rest she not only needed, but deserved.

It was probably for those reasons then, that Hinata nearly had a heart attack when her sister spoke these words from right next to her.

"He's fighting himself?" Hanabi questioned, pretty much rhetorically. She spied the berries, now in Hinata's arms.

"May I have some?" she asked. Hinata nodded.

"They're for you. Naruto-kun picked them" she explained, watching her younger sister take some and eat in a way that almost mirrored the way she had been eating earlier. Hinata paused, looking directly into Hanabi's white eyes. The younger sister stopped eating.

"Thank you" Hinata said. Hanabi nodded.

"You were worried, I could tell" she replied simply, before returning to the food.

Words that did not need to be said flitted between the two sisters, each somehow understanding the other.

Hinata turned back towards Naruto but found that the blonde was already approaching, a wide grin on his face.

"You're up!" he said. Hanabi just nodded. He hadn't given her much to go on. Plus, she was eating.

But in all honesty, the brown haired Hyuuga girl didn't quite know what to make of Naruto.

For starters, he was persistently loud, in a profession that demanded stealth.

Secondly, his inflammatory way of speaking got him into trouble. She had not only heard stories from her sister and cousin, but had already seen the results of his temper in the period before the first test had taken place.

However, despite his often brash attitude, he seemed to make friends very easily. A large part of Hanabi wanted to know how. Not that there was time for that now.

"Once you're finished eating, let's go!" Naruto exclaimed. He turned to Hinata.

"Your feet are good to go, right?" he checked. The lavender eyed girl nodded.

"Great, we've still got to find two more hitai-ate's after all" he reminded the two others.

"Err, a-actually… we got another one Naruto-kun" Hinata informed him. Naruto looked at her, surprised.

"What? When?" he asked, caught between being impressed that they had acquired one while he had been unconscious, and confused at how they had managed it.

Hanabi swallowed the last of the food.

"From the poisoned rain ninja…" she explained slowly, holding up the forehead protector in question. The issues surrounding his death still worried the young girl.

"Oh…" Naruto managed. He scratched the top of his head, and was about to open his mouth when Hinata interrupted, the veins around her eyes bulging.

"P-People are coming this way" she informed the two of them.

XXXXXXXXXX

There we go. I'm tired. Tomorrow I'll reply to reviews and then start the next chapter. I already know what's gonna happen, I just have to hope I don't get interrupted.

Anyway, thanks for the patience.

Later.


	32. Accusing Eyes

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. I was planning to write out a rough draft for this chapter on Sunday. D'ya know what happened? It bloody snowed. It was so rare I had to make the most of it. Me and my brother created gangsta snowmen! Anyway, seems things are conspiring against me. Or I'm being paranoid. It's probably paranoia.

Anyway, enjoy.

Chapter 32: Accusing Eyes

The previously still air suddenly gusted, blowing green leaves between the three team mates.

"Someone's coming this way?" Naruto asked repeating the question back as his brain quickly switched gears.

The sudden revelation from the indigo haired girl had managed to catch both of her other two team mates off guard. But it was Hanabi who reacted first, lowering the forehead protector she had been holding in her small hand and scrambling to her feet. Taking a small moment, she too activated her bloodline technique.

"Byakugan!" Hanabi's voice rang out, the veins around her eyes bulging to provide the extra blood flow to her eyes. She quickly focused in on the approaching ninja. Naruto only looked on.

"They are close" Hanabi stated.

"Great, let's go get them!" Naruto exclaimed, suddenly excited. His face fell at the sight of the change in the two girls' expressions.

"They're… Rain ninja…" Hanabi whispered, looking ahead of the two oncoming shinobi to where they would end up. Her expression was unreadable.

"They're stopping…" Hinata murmured, looking distraught. The blonde looked between the two of them.

"They've found the body" Hanabi said flatly. Hinata deactivated her doujutsu and reached out towards her sister.

"Hanabi-imouto…" she breathed. But the young girl seemed stoic, at least on the outside.

"They'll be here in the next few minutes. I didn't conceal my tracks or…" she paused

"…or the body…" she trailed off, the veins around her eyes receding. Hinata looked worriedly at her sister. Naruto looked similarly concerned. Both were surprised when Hanabi raised her head and spoke up again.

"So what's the plan?" she asked matter of factly. Hinata's expression of concern only deepened at her sister's seemingly instant recovery.

"_You can tell she was raised alone"_ Naruto told himself.

"_Finding the strength to continue within __herself__, without asking for, or expecting help from others…"_ he thought. Hinata had been right. Hanabi needed support; no-one could cope with the various issues that being a ninja threw up alone.

"_It will have to wait though"_ he decided, taking a step forward and causing the two girls to turn towards him.

"I've got a plan" Naruto revealed.

XXXXXXXXXX

The Konoha ninja stood together, determination in the eyes of all three of them.

"Right. You understand what we're gonna do?" Naruto asked.

"Mhmm" the indigo haired girl nodded.

"Yes" came the reply from the other, brown haired, girl.

Naruto grinned.

"Okay-" he started as he turned to face the direction the two Rain ninja would be coming from.

But before he could finish his sentence, there came out of nowhere a hailstorm of kunai and shuriken.

"Naru-!" Hinata screamed as the blonde was hit repeatedly, before her own voice was cut off by the impact of the thrown weapons.

The third member of the Leaf shinobi team made no noise at all as the weapons pierced her body, the surprise too great for her to even utter a word.

All three fell towards the floor and before they had even hit the ground, their two assailants materialised in front of the collapsing ninja, sharing a cold look of satisfaction as the bodies landed.

Poof! Poof Poof!

The two Amegakure shinobi barely had time to react to the changing situation before they were each set upon; only managing to momentarily put some distance between their counter ambushers by leaping away.

The larger of the two ninja found himself facing two pupiless girls, and he noticed the veins around their eyes bulging unnaturally as they threw themselves at him, hands raised. He barely had time to settle on the branch he had jumped towards before the first of the two were on him.

The older of the two girls had reached him for the opening blows, thrusting a palm towards the Rain shinobi's shoulder. The quick reactions of the Genin allowed him to parry the blow with both of his metal armguards , but as the girl's hand was swept upwards a focused blade of chakra from her palm cut through the fabric of his clothing and sliced at the shoulder's skin below.

He had little time to react to the pain and the shock of the attack though, as Hinata' left hand came forward, aiming towards the now exposed abdomen of the wounded Rain ninja.

Drawing on reflexes he never knew he had, the harassed shinobi managed to twist an arm back around and block the incoming strike. To his horror, the armguard splintered under the blow and he felt some of his left arm go numb.

With her opponent now firmly on the defensive, Hinata pirouetted around the put upon ninja and attacked again, her hands moving in a blur.

Barely following her movements, the now retreating Amegakure shinobi blocked all of the hits that he could, feeling his entire left arm go dead, as well as certain areas of his torso. His right arm now felt lighter, and the stunned Rain ninja knew without even looking that it was because the armguard on that side had also been demolished.

Desperately, he tried to attack back by swinging his bad arm in an arc, unintentionally releasing hundreds of shards of metal towards the long haired girl from his shattered armguard.

Finally forced on the defensive herself, Hinata ducked and rolled off the edge of the branch, the metal splinters thudding into the wood behind her.

Less than a second after her sister had disappeared over the edge, and before the defending Rain shinobi could even think, Hanabi swung herself from her concealed spot underneath the branch and scythed at the exposed legs with her own, sending the surprised ninja towards the floor.

Instinctively, the felled Amegakure resident threw out his right hand to break his fall, using the momentum given to him by the young girl to flip himself over and off the branch, away from his new assailant, his back to the floor.

Unfortunately, Hanabi had read the move in advance and continued her leap from the underside of the branch, propelling herself above the midair ninja and channeling her chakra to her hands.

This time it was the brown haired Byakugan user whose hands moved in a blur, and with only one good arm to block, the doomed shinobi felt himself falling back down towards the ground, even more of his body rendered useless.

However, his drop to the floor suddenly turned into a screaming descent as the small Hyuuga girl performed a perfect two footed back flip off of his falling body, before heading away to a lower branch.

"-!" he tried to shout; the breath forced out of his body stopping anything more than a grunt.

"Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō!" Hinata's voice called out as the body of the falling shinobi entered her range.

White hot pain hit the back of the Rain ninja like a brick wall as he decelerated rapidly, and under the influence of certain strands of chakra the fabric of the hitai-ate wrapped around his head tore, causing it to fall off and deflect into the undergrowth as it hit the indigo haired girl's attack.

But the assault did not end there.

All of his downward momentum now gone, the dome of chakra now sent the barely conscious form back into the air and towards the waiting form of Hanabi, who lowered her body and raised her arms in readiness.

The image of the dead body raced through her mind. She dropped her hands. The unconscious form of her opponent landed at her feet, throwing up a small cloud of dust.

There was a moment of silence as the two sisters silently acknowledged each other. They looked down at the unconscious body.

"He's out" Hanabi stated flatly. Hinata only nodded, before focusing her Byakugan on Naruto's fight.

"Let's go" she said clearly, retrieving the fallen forehead protector and nodding in the direction of the blonde before leaping away to his aid.

Hanabi found her gaze lingering on the fallen Rain ninja before she too followed her sister to Naruto.

XXXXXXXXXX

The plan had gone perfectly.

Using the transformation jutsu to disguise the shadow clones was a technique that he had perfected in his years of training with Jiraiya. Their separate usefulness had been proven after both techniques had been used in two separate battles in the last Chuunin exam the blonde had taken. Combining the two was a logical step forward.

The second part of his plan, to divide the two attacking Rain ninja, had also come off without a hitch. In fact, the two surprised shinobi had split up immediately, allowing Hinata and Hanabi to outnumber their opponent while Naruto used his shadow clones to achieve the same result.

However he had not expected his opponent to be the master of another type of clone, though he now realised why she had leapt towards the river rather than follow her team mate.

"Misu Bunshin no Jutsu!" the grey eyed girl called out, her scarred hands making the seals instinctively as she drew chakra from her body and water from the river to form her own copies, equalising the two side's numbers.

"Let's go!" the five Naruto's shouted, each drawing and throwing weapons in one co-ordinated movement as they began their charge towards the five figures in front of them.

The opposing Rain ninja made no sound as they dodged the incoming missiles but two did not move fast enough, the head of one and the leg of another exploding in a shower of spray of water. As they charged the blonde quintet grinned as one, but the smiles turned to grimaces as each damaged clone began to reform, their creator taking advantage of the natural environment the river provided.

The silent Amegakure kunoichi leapt forward, and as the two sides met the closeness of the fighting meant all finesse immediately went out of the window.

Fortunately, this was the type of combat Naruto had spent his life as a ninja perfecting, his shadow clone ability providing the sheer number of opponents that allowed his effective, if dirty, fighting style to progress.

Managing to block the combined attacks of two water clones, one shadow clone allowed his neighbour to remove the heads of both with a wild roundhouse kick. The two identical blondes exchanged a victorious look which suddenly returned to concentration as water cascaded around the stumps of the necks of the two water clones, their heads reforming. One swift blow from each of the shadow clones into the midriffs of the water ones destroyed the incomplete copies, sending the water they were made of slumping into the ground.

A tight one on one battle between two clones took place less than a metre away, the lack of space constricting the two to short jabs and low kicks. Catching the fist of the water replica in two hands, the blonde copy swung an elbow at the face of his opponent. This in turn was blocked by the upraised upper arm of the grey eyed girl who struck out a foot towards his shin, attempting to land a hit that would dispel him.

Stepping nimbly to the side, the Naruto clone drew on his brawling experience and thrust his forehead into the face of the water duplicate, blasting the shocked expression of the girl into thousands of water droplets and freeing himself from her grip.

Another Naruto clone had separated himself from the brawl and set about the water clone opposite him, his greater experience allowing him to systematically destroy the kunoichi copy, ending his move with a blow that tore through her body from shoulder to hip, completely preventing it from reforming.

Now it was five against two and though she still had one clone by her side, the Rain shinobi herself had taken a number of blows, confirming the fact to Naruto that she was the original.

Realising her situation the Amegakure ninja launched a frantic attack, and through the combined efforts of herself and her one remaining water clone, managed to reduce one shadow clone to a puff of smoke.

There was no time for celebration though, because no sooner had the clone dispersed the four remaining blondes all leapt forward, forcing the girl back onto the river itself as they destroyed the final clone.

Breathing heavily, but staying resolutely silent, the cornered kunoichi whipped through the same hand seals that she had performed before and concentrated her chakra.

"Misu Bunshin no Justsu!" she called out again, grimacing slightly as fully fifteen clones rose from the water. Her already cold eyes hardened, challenging the four blondes.

The quartet grinned back, raising their hands and forming Naruto's trademark seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" they shouted, and around the crowd of Rain duplicates appeared another forty grinning blondes.

"Here I come!" they cried out as one, throwing themselves forwards and towards the now surrounded Rain ninja.

The orange clad wave hit the line of water clones as if they were the elemental force, and though some attempted to leap up and stop the multitude of dropping shadow clones, sheer numbers made sure that each and every one of the watery clones was destroyed.

For the kunoichi left in the middle, time seemed to slow. The blondes still in midair were passing through the blasted droplets of the clones and were unaware, but the shadow clones that had smashed their way through the standing line of water copies suddenly saw fluttering bits of paper where the centre of their opponents had just been.

"Shi-!" a few of the Naruto's managed before an explosion engulfed them all. The ground shook and a massive amount of spray was thrown into the air as the force of the multiple explosions blew the surface water out of the river.

The air was filled with smoke.

Coming out of the water as the smoke began to clear, and lifting herself to the surface, the grey eyed kunoichi looked around with steely eyed satisfaction as her ears rang.

"_Is that the end?"_ she asked herself, looking around for any sign of a blasted blonde corpse.

Her head whipped around at the sound of a cracking noise, barely audible over the chiming in her ears.

Her eyes widened in shock as eight figures burst from the splitting ground around the riverbed and hurtled at her crouched form, fists raised and giving her no time to register the attack before it was too late.

Managing to only raise her arms raise her arms as the eight separate blows landed, she was sent plunging back down into the shallow water of the river where she hit the bottom with a sickening thud, the air forced out of her lungs.

XXXXXXXXXX

Standing on the water in the middle of the river, Naruto watched as the girl struggled to the surface and then to the riverside, keeping her distance from him in an attempt to prevent him from taking her forehead protector.

Dispelling the seven clones, he began to make his way over, content that she would not be attacking again and determined to gain what his team needed to progress.

Crouching at the edge of the water she coughed loudly, great racking coughs that seemed to shake her entire body.

"_She must have swallowed some water, or inhaled it"_ the blonde realised, thinking of how suddenly she had been thrust under the water by his clones. He took another couple of steps further, accidentally splashing slightly.

The girl's head spun round quickly, her eyes still challenging the victorious orange clad boy even though the rest of her body was evidently not up to the task.

Naruto stared back with his clear blue eyes, unsure of whether he would have to knock the fallen girl unconscious before he could take her hitai-ate.

But before he could say anything, the grey eyed Kunoichi's eyes glazed over with pain and she bent double again, coughing hard with one hand on her chest and the other over her mouth. Naruto looked on with fresh concern in his eyes.

The Amegakure shinobi straightened up slightly, still evidently in pain, and looked into the hand that had been covering her mouth as she breathed raggedly, wincing with each intake of air.

Both Naruto's and the girl's eyes widened at the sight of a crimson stain on the palm of her hand, and suddenly it hit the blonde.

"_There's still poison in the river!"_ he told himself as the girl in front of him collapsed onto her knees in the shallow water, still not saying a word. She shuddered in pain, clutching her chest and taking in increasingly quick breaths as the poison took its deadly effect. Her chest felt as if it was on fire and her throat was closing, denying her air.

Naruto stepped forward quickly, making his way towards the poisoned girl to offer whatever help he could.

He stopped in his tracks at the sudden movement of her right hand, producing a kunai as her grey eyes opened and stared right into his blue ones.

He barely had time to declare his intentions before the kunai shifted in her hand and pointed inwards, her arm swinging in an impossibly slow arc towards her heart. Her eyes stayed fixed on his.

"NO! Wai-!" he shouted, his eyes widening as he realised her intention.

But it was too late. The knife pierced her chest cleanly, entering her heart with a dull thudding noise, causing the girl to grunt slightly in pain.

Naruto could only watch as she swayed slightly, her silent yet accusing eyes still on his as light left them and she collapsed sideways unceremoniously into the shallow water.

Naruto stared, unblinking, at the fallen girl, still unable to believe his eyes. His mouth formed words that his tongue couldn't voice.

"It wasn't my fault…" he managed to whisper, his eyes still fixed on the slumped form of the kunoichi.

Conflicting emotions started to rage in his mind.

"It wasn't my fault! What was that look for!?" he shouted, anger getting the better of him, though whether it was anger at himself or the girl he really couldn't tell. He deflated slightly, but the anger was still bubbling beneath the surface.

"Those accusing eyes… Why didn't you say anything?" he said, his voice rising as he clenched his fist. He took a deep breath and was about to vent his fury again when a quiet voice broke into his thoughts.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata murmured softly from behind him.

To the lavender eyed girl, the boy in front of her seemed to slump visibly as the white hot anger of only a moment ago left him.

There was a moment of heavy silence as Hinata wondered what to say and Naruto tried to collect himself.

As they both did so, a few small splashes told Hinata that her sister had joined the two of them.

Scanning the area, Hanabi's white eyes immediately caught the fallen body, and for once her mouth cut in before her brain.

"What happened?" she asked, completely failing to keep the shock out of her voice.

"Nothing" Naruto stated in a dead voice, stepping towards the corpse that was now almost submerged in the water.

As Naruto slipped the metal plate from the dead girl's forehead to the horror of the younger Hyuuga, Hinata tried to offer the blonde some support.

"Naruto-kun…" she began, but was interrupted by the blonde who turned towards the two girls.

"We should get out of here" he suggested levelly, his face and body language showing none of the pain and suppressed emotion that Hinata could see in his darkened blue eyes.

"_Naruto-kun…"_ she thought to herself sadly, opting to agree with the downcast blonde for now and signalling to her sister to do the same.

She nodded slowly and allowed Naruto to lead the way, following as he leapt silently into the darkening foliage.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hey. That was quite a lot shorter than I was originally gonna have it but I felt I had to end it at that point. Just seemed right. Still, the next chapter will end the second test; it just might have to be a little longer than I planned to fit everything in.

I've finally started to watch Death Note. I'm on episode six now. I prefer L to Light to be honest. Dunno about anyone else…?

Oh, I've finally got my computer back up and running and virus free, so I might be able to work on this during the day now instead of five in the morning like I'm doing now. Only problem, I also have work to do… Either way, I'm definitely getting the final chapter of the second test out soon. Work will then take precedence for a bit so the chapters will come out slower. Just a small warning. I don't want anyone to think I'm stopping again.

And in what is now almost ritual, the three hundredth reviewer gets some sort of prize. Dunno what, too tired to bother thinking right now. Again, thank you for all the reviews made. Three hundred is wonderful, just hope everyone is still enjoying it.

Anyway, bedtime for me.

Later.


	33. The End of the Second Test

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. I made it to three hundred reviews! Thank you everyone.

On a different note, for a little while I had a damaged thumb and it was taped to the rest of my right hand. Dunno whether I've broken it or just sprained it or what… though I can use it now. It's just lucky I'm ambidextrous otherwise the work I had to do would have gone so slowly. Just thought I'd let y'all know the pain I went through to get some of this chapter out. Hehe, only kidding, it wasn't that bad.

On to four hundred!

Enjoy.

Chapter 33: The End of the Second Test

The night had settled in completely by the time the three Konoha ninja finally stopped to better grasp their surroundings. However, unlike most of the other nights they had spent in the forest the dark ground was just that, the moon obscured by numerous heavy clouds passing slowly overhead.

"_At least it doesn't look as if it will rain…"_ Hinata told herself as she looked into the gloomy sky. Her gaze travelled back down to ground level and her two silent team mates.

Her younger sister was quiet, which was in fact fairly normal for the small girl, but considering the look on her face and the slightly vacant look in her eyes Hinata could sense that her sister was thinking deeply about something.

"_That body she buried…?"_ Hinata wondered. It was hard to tell, though Hanabi had faltered slightly when she had spoken of the Rain ninja they had found earlier.

Now deep in thought herself, Hinata found herself looking at Naruto. Though he was looking in the direction of the massive central tower it seemed as if the cloudy weather was reflected in his eyes. But it was his silence was the biggest indicator that he was troubled.

The Naruto she knew would usually be even more hyperactive than normal. That they had now gained all they needed to pass this part of the test should have led to wild speculation on the blonde's part over how easy the next stage would be, the trademark grin that so uplifted her own feelings and then the assurance that she too would achieve her goals.

To the indigo haired girl, Naruto's silence was even more oppressive than the dark clouds above.

But what she found even worse was the fact that

"_I don't know how to make either of them any better…"_ she thought helplessly, looking between the two and then down at her bandaged feet.

"_Naruto-kun offered me help when I was hurt, and Hanabi-imouto kept watch for an entire night because I was worried about Naruto-kun. What can I do for them?"_ she asked herself, desperately trying to place herself in their shoes.

The silence between the three ninja went on as each of them continued to think through the recent events.

"_Continually thinking something over can do more harm than good sometimes"_ Hinata told herself, reaching a tentative conclusion.

"_If we stayed active, constantly moving, maybe they could forget their problems. Or at least not think about them. For now, hopefully"_ she thought, still not entirely sure. The indigo haired girl deliberated for a few more moments.

"_No, I have to do something to try to help them"_ she decided, reaching into a pouch at her hip and drawing out three small black spherical pills.

Her lavender eyes were still full of worry, but at least now they had some resolve.

XXXXXXXXXX

Lost in thought, Naruto stared vacantly at the dark shape of the tower they were supposed to be heading towards.

Unfortunately, he couldn't stop his mind from going over the events of a few hours before.

His brain knew that he had not directly caused the Rain kunoichi's death. It was not his fault, and he knew that. At least, he thought he did.

"_But the look in her eyes… accusing me…"_ he thought to himself. It was a look that had burned into his mind and blamed him of murder, an accusation that had pierced his heart and created an almost unbearable amount of guilt.

Until he told himself it wasn't his fault, and the entire process started again. No matter how he approached it, he couldn't break the cycle.

"N-Naruto-kun?" a timid voice stuttered, breaking into his consciousness. He turned towards the quiet voice, his eyes still slightly unfocused and then blinked.

Hinata was looking at him with concern.

"Hey Hinata! Sorry, I was just spacing out a little" he apologised, fixing a grin on his face. He hesitated slightly as the lavender eyed girl seemed to scan his eyes for something, her gentle gaze seemingly trying to coax out his thoughts.

Hinata sighed almost imperceptibly as her pale eyes left his.

"I-It's okay Naruto-kun" she assured him, offering something from her hand. He picked it gingerly from her palm.

"A soldier pill?" he enquired, looking from it back at Hinata. The indigo haired girl nodded.

"T-There's less than half a day l-left… I-If we take these and stay a-alert, we'll be able to go s-straight to the tower" she explained, her eyes now looking into his again.

"Good idea Hinata!" Naruto enthused, raising the pill to his mouth and swallowing quickly.

"After all, I bet you're tired of going around this forest with no shoes on right?" he joked, looking down at Hinata's still bandaged feet.

The lavender eyed girl smiled at the joke and nodded slightly, casting her eyes downwards.

"I-I'll go get Hanabi-imouto" Hinata said softly, receiving an affirmative grin from the blonde.

But instead of turning away immediately, the long haired Hyuuga nervously looked over him again. Her gaze found his again, and Hinata gave him a small hopeful smile before she finally turned round and walked towards her sister.

As the lavender eyed girl explained her idea to her sister, Naruto found himself lost in thought again, though this time for a different reason.

"_She's worried about me…"_ he half asked, half told himself as his eyes stayed fixed on the taller, older Hyuuga.

XXXXXXXXXX

The clouds that had made their way into the sky overnight had been burned away by the bright sun overhead, leaving only wispy afterthoughts of what they once were to blow overhead.

In the lee of the massive tower at the centre of training area forty four sat Mihoto, Eri and Sho, shielded from the slight wind and concealed by a combination of foliage and a strategically placed rock that Eri had manipulated.

After they had found the spot they currently occupied, late into the evening, the rest of the night had passed without incident.

Mihoto had rested peacefully and occasionally kept watch with Eri as she woke intermittently. Eri herself had kept almost constant watch, only stopping to get a few hours sleep after dawn had started to creep over the horizon.

Sho had been woken roughly at that point and was given the final few hours watch by a grumpy Eri. Earlier, the brown eyed boy had gone to sleep as soon as his only real source of conversation, Mihoto, had first gone to sleep. Neither girl had woken him up until then. Eri because she said he was useless, and Mihoto because she didn't want to disturb him.

Nevertheless, Eri had needed respite and he had taken up the responsibility, though while he had maintained a lookout the tall brown haired boy had watched the dew on the bush next to him slowly evaporate from the leaves. The fact that he could distract himself from almost any boring task he considered a very beneficial ability, even if the distraction wasn't very interesting either.

Unfortunately, it was actually out of necessity that they had taken the night to rest. Unlike many of the other teams, they could not rely on the benefits of soldier pills. At least, Mihoto couldn't, the boost the medicine gave causing too much strain on her body after the effects had worn off. That basically made the use of them by the other two a little pointless. If one had to rest, the others might as well too.

But now, with the twins waking at the same time, it looked as if they would be active again.

"_Not that we have anything to do but wait until we're allowed into the tower"_ he told himself. His thoughts were interrupted by a foot poking his side. He looked up, and into the green eyes of a frowning face.

"You. Up" she stated simply. The tall boy laughed slightly.

"Well hello little miss sunshine" he replied as he raised himself to his feet. Eri just ignored him and went back to her twin's side, her task completed. Sho saw Mihoto give him an apologetic smile.

"What's up with her today?" he enquired as he too joined the two of them. The more upbeat girl shrugged.

"Honestly? I don't know. You know, sometimes even I can't read her" she admitted with a smile. Sho smiled back at her. The person in question said nothing as her two team mates looked at her intently, though the almost permanent expression of annoyance remained on her features.

After a few seconds, both Mihoto and Sho laughed.

"You're right, it could be anything" Sho conceded to the smiling twin. His expression turned mock-serious as he turned towards her sister.

"Shall we go?" he asked.

Eri blinked slowly, her stony expression remaining as she stared at the tall boy. Sho's face broke back into a smile again.

"I think that's a yes-" he began, intending to make a joke about the number of blinks she had made.

However, all three Rock ninja were distracted by the sudden presence of three foreign chakras, rapidly approaching.

Jokes forgotten, as one they all turned in the direction of the approaching trio of shinobi and each of them readied themselves for any oncoming attack.

The tall brown haired ninja crouched slightly, raising one hand towards the weapon strapped to his back. Eri stepped in front of Mihoto and allowed her chakra to begin to seep through her legs, slowly infusing the ground with it. Her hands rose slightly too, assuming a fighting stance. On the face of it Mihoto did nothing, though her sharp green eyes scanned the area in the few seconds they had until their engagement.

A split second later and from the point of view of the Iwagakure residents, right on cue, three people burst from the trees and into the clearing surrounding the tower. But as the new arrivals landed a little way away from the standing trio something seemed a little off.

Each of their supposed 'enemies' had their hands raised.

Another few seconds went by before either side said a word.

"Yes?" Sho called out, recovering from the surprising situation first. He looked between the three ninja who had just arrived. According to their forehead protectors, they were from the Sand village. He turned his head towards one who stepped forwards, hands still raised.

"We don't want to fight!" the Sand shinobi called out, his dirty orange hair blowing about slightly in the wind that swept through the clearing. Sho raised an eyebrow.

"Okay-" he started, before the Suna boy interrupted again.

"We have a proposition!" he announced. Sho frowned, taking a closer look at the spokesperson for the group.

"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" he asked quizzically, ignoring the statement. The boy's eyes widened.

"No! I mean no…" he managed, trying to calm himself down. The Sand shinobi watched as one of the two identical looking girls came to the tall ninja's side and said something quietly to him. Sho's brown eyes rose to the boy's face again in recognition.

"You're the kid I nearly killed!" he exclaimed, remembering. The boy in question shivered slightly before composing himself.

"As I said, we have a proposition" he repeated, and looking slightly relieved that Sho decided not to interrupt again, he continued.

"We are willing to leave peacefully on one condition; that you give us any spare hitai-ate's that you have gathered" he announced loudly. Sho cocked his head in response.

"What if we have none spare?" he asked. The representative of the Sand trio looked confused.

"Aren't you-" he began, but was interrupted again by smiling the smiling Rock shinobi.

"Though we actually have two spare now you mention it" Sho revealed mischievously. The orange haired boy looked relieved.

"Well if we could just-" he began, holding out a hand. Sho held up his own.

"I must discuss it with my team" he announced, turning around and leaving the Sand shinobi looking lost.

"Well, what do you think?" Sho asked the two girls, his back now to the three Sand shinobi. Mihoto answered first.

"I don't want to fight. We do have two spare after all" she pointed out. The tall brown eyed boy nodded, turning to Eri to get her answer.

"I'm going to fight" she stated bluntly, surprising her sister. Sho nodded at her reply too, though her sister voiced her concerns.

"We don't need to!" she protested. Eri shrugged.

"What? Were reducing the competition" she pointed out levelly. Mihoto stared exasperatedly at her twin for a moment and then deflated.

"Fine. Come on Sho" she beckoned, beginning to turn away.

The brown haired boy scratched his head nervously.

"I'm going to fight too" he confessed. The usually mild girl suddenly regarded him darkly.

"Well, Eri's right, it will reduce the competition. And I can't exactly leave her to go it alone can I?" he explained, the green eyed stare drawing words from him. Unfortunately, while he gained no response from one twin, he gained something from another.

"I don't need your help you know" Eri stated, her voice as dark as her sister's face. Sho turned from the 'not normally annoyed' twin to the 'perpetually annoyed' one.

"Sure you do" he said brightly, turning back to try to elicit some response from the other girl. Fortunately, not much effort was needed.

"Fine" she repeated, her expression disappointed. It quickly returned to annoyed.

"I don't see the point, but have fun I guess. I'll be over here" she called back, leaping some distance away. The tall boy held up a hand.

"Hey, wait- Aw dammit!" he cursed as a number of shuriken passed straight through his body. As he spun round to face the three Sand ninja again he noticed Eri regarding him with something akin to amusement, the shuriken directed at her and her sister embedded in collapsing earth.

"_I guess they do share the same personality traits, sometimes…"_ he thought to himself, regarding the now stunned Suna shinobi with a smile.

"That was a bit low wasn't it?" he asked cheerfully.

No response, other than all three of them seemed to tense slightly. He looked over at the girl he would be fighting alongside. She seemed to be checking out the opponents.

"_Right"_ he decided.

From the relaxed stance he had been in only a second before Sho managed to pick up speed at such a rate that he almost seemed to disappear from the eyes of the three shinobi facing him, appearing in front of his nearest opponent almost before they could react.

Having seen her team mate launch his offensive, Eri used the surprise he had created to her advantage. Using the chakra she had been embedding in the ground since the three Sand ninja had arrived, the auburn haired girl raised the earth behind her opponents by about twenty metres, not only trapping them but also throwing the now falling and uprooted trees at them as well.

Sho's opponent had little time to worry about this though; the giant Rock ninja was already upon him and striking down powerfully. He had already been dealt two glancing, yet stinging blows by the long arms of the tall boy and had yet to return any.

His thoughts were interrupted simultaneously, firstly by a voice calling out his name in warning, and secondly by a massive shadow that appeared above his head. Focusing as much chakra as he could to his legs, he jumped away.

"_Made it!"_ he congratulated himself, watching triumphantly as the huge trunk of one of the falling trees smashed down onto the person he had been just fighting. His expression turned to one of rage and exasperation as the tree bounced slightly on its branches, uncovering a still standing Rock ninja.

"_That was close… thanks Eri"_ Sho thought to himself as his vision ceased to be filled with the inside of a tree. His eyes darted left and right again, locating his opponents. He watched as one of the Sand ninja let loose a barrage of thrown projectiles at Eri, only for them to be blocked by the green eyed girl as she simultaneously attacked, causing spikes of rocks to protrude from the ground at her former attacker.

As Eri's opponent leapt away, the tip of one spike caught her leg and the surprised kunoichi fell awkwardly, setting up the again sprinting Sho to strike the already stunned girl as she dropped to the ground. Judging by the fact she didn't get up, both Sho and Eri looked around for the other two shinobi.

About a second later, the tall brown eyed Iwagakure ninja spied the orange haired boy he had been fighting earlier. Using the cover of the fallen trees and raised earth, he was swiftly moving closer to Eri. Sho set off in pursuit.

But even sprinting as fast as he could and using his inherited technique to allow the attacks of the hidden third ninja to pass through him so he wouldn't slow down, the boy managed to reach Eri.

"Got you!" the orange haired ninja shouted, closing the distance to the Rock kunoichi to nothing before stabbing at her with a drawn kunai in each hand.

Quick as a flash, Eri sidestepped out of the way of the straight thrust and then raised a hand to catch the second swinging arm, bringing the surprised ninja to a halt.

"Huh?" he questioned.

"I said, I'm not a purely ranged type, idiot!" Eri shouted, shifting her weight and throwing the Sand shinobi across the ground. In the same moment, rocky spikes exploded from the ground ahead of the skidding Suna boy, which he barely managed to dodge by throwing himself upwards on his hands and over the deadly strike.

Unfortunately for him, Sho had continued his run in his ethereal state, passing straight through Eri's attack and only re-materialising once he was rapidly approaching the falling shinobi.

He orange haired boy didn't even have time to swear before the Rock ninja had leapt up to meet him with a barrage of punches, knocking him unconscious before he even hit the ground.

Now there was only one left.

Sensibly, the remaining Suna ninja had kept quiet as his team mates were defeated. He also had no crazy ideas about winning this fight. His orange haired team mate Souta had told him about the Genin who had managed to get past an admittedly seemingly distracted Temari days ago. Since Souta had been recognised by the tall boy, and the two twins were obviously the opponents they had faced on that day, this was not going to end well.

Still, he had to try.

The decision made, the third and final Sand Genin drew all of his equipment from the various pouches on his belt. Placing them carefully in his hands, he peered over the edge of the fallen tree he was hiding behind.

And then leapt.

First out of his hands were the flash bombs, followed shortly by the smoke bombs. All of these were directed at the seemingly untouchable tall boy. If he couldn't be hurt, the Sand ninja asked himself, could he be blinded?

An instant later, the explosive notes and conventional weapons went to the girl, on the basis that she couldn't block everything.

As the array of weapons detonated, he closed his eyes and landed, shielding himself from the bright light and heat of the explosions. His landing was a little awkward but clean enough. He returned to another hiding spot as the smoke cleared.

Where the girl had been standing, there was now number of spikes in a dome-like arrangement, obviously designed to protect the person inside.

"_But where's the other guy?"_ the Sand ninja asked himself, looking around desperately. His search was cut short by a cracking sound.

"Where is he?" Eri breathed darkly, smashing through most of the protection she had created for herself and letting the rest collapse. Her eyes darted to the side, looking at something the Sand ninja could not see, and then focused straight on his, anger written all over her face.

The Rock kunoichi sent a pulse of chakra through the ground, spikes erupting in the place where her target had been a split second earlier.

But in changing position, he had revealed himself more fully, and now it was two on one as seemingly from nowhere Sho appeared in front of him.

Jumping backwards, the Sand shinobi dodged both the swung fist of the giant Rock ninja and the attack of the girl behind him, the rocky spikes again appearing but only millimetres from the front of his face.

Skidding slightly, the outnumbered Sand shinobi stopped and then pressed his back to the newly formed rocky outcrop, keeping the girl in sight.

"_If I'm right, then the other one will go straight through here to attack me"_ he told himself, a split second before the spiky outcrop he was leaning against exploded.

"Wha-" the Sand shinobi managed, before he was thrown forwards and knocked out cold by the mass of flying rock.

As the dust cleared, the squinting form of Sho could be seen, a hammer balanced on his shoulder.

"Well that didn't quite go as planned" he stated brightly, holding a hand to the side of his head.

Eri made no reply, retrieving the forehead protectors from each of the fallen Sand ninja.

"That really hurt my eyes" Sho complained, scrunching his eyes up in an attempt to rid his vision of the dots dancing in front of his eyes. He looked Eri over.

"That attack of his really cut your coat to pieces" he pointed out. The girl looked at him threateningly.

"That wasn't him. That was me" she stated bluntly. Sho looked confused for a second, before realisation dawned.

"Oh, you cut yourself with your own defence" he thought out loud.

"I had to improvise" she muttered dangerously.

"Yeah, I guess if that attack had actually hit then you would have been cut to pieces" he taunted.

Eri turned around, her eyes narrowed.

"One of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces" she threatened. Sho laughed.

"You're just afraid of what Mihoto will say when she sees you"

He laughed again as the auburn haired girl turned and walked away, following shortly after.

XXXXXXXXXX

It had just passed noon and the three of them, with the aid of both Hinata and Hanabi's Byakugan, were slowly but surely reaching the tower.

So far everything had gone completely smoothly. They had avoided every other team that came their way, and been kept quite busy doing so.

"_Hopefully this has taken their mind off their problems for now"_ Hinata thought to herself, scanning ahead and signalling that it was okay to continue.

"_A few more hours and we'll be out of here"_ the indigo haired girl told herself. It had taken a little time but Hinata had gradually realised this exam really had been designed to test stamina as much as teamwork.

"_After all…"_ she reasoned.

"…_every single team has to stay in here for at least four days, unlike a lot of other tests where you can leave or stop as soon as you're done"_

When looked in that way, it became about pacing yourself. And avoiding constant contact.

"Oh!" Hinata exclaimed, out loud. Her two team mates looked at her, though she had little idea until Naruto voiced his concern.

"Hinata? What's wrong?" he asked, causing the lavender eyed girl to turn towards him. With her doujutsu activated though, it had the slightly disconcerting effect of making you think she was looking at you when she actually wasn't.

"U-Up ahead, there's those Grass n-ninja we fought. How d-did they get here?" she wondered aloud, deactivating her technique and looking worriedly at Naruto. The blonde's face had darkened considerably at the mention of the Grass shinobi.

Hanabi looked to her sister.

"N-Naruto-kun…?" Hinata questioned softly.

"One of them hurt you Hinata" he said. The blonde's voice was quiet, but seemed steely. The indigo haired girl blushed slightly, but was still worried.

"I-I don't think we should f-fight them, Naruto-kun" she suggested quietly. The blue eyed boy looked up at her quickly, frowning slightly.

"I-I don't think they're able to f-fight anyway… t-two of them are hurt. I-I think Hanabi-imouto's attack is s-still affecting one of them" she told him.

Standing next to her sister, Hanabi looked proud, though she tried not to seem so.

Meanwhile Naruto was looking at Hinata determinedly, causing the poor girl's face to heat up slightly as well as make her wonder what he was cooking up. After a moment he seemed to reach a decision.

"All right then, if we can't fight them then at least we can get an apology from them" he announced.

"W-What?" Hinata managed, surprised by the sudden suggestion. The blonde smiled slightly.

"Normally, I'd just beat up someone who hurt one of my friends" he told her confidently.

"But since you're against that, an apology's fine right?" he asked. Hinata nodded.

"I-I guess" she conceded. Naruto smiled, and Hinata could tell this was one of the genuine ones.

"Right. And if they don't apologise, then I'll beat them up!" he decided, striding off towards the tower.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata protested, following the spiky haired blonde.

Sighing slightly, Hanabi followed behind.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hinata had been right. Two of the three were definitely not in any condition to fight, and the one who had managed to injure Hinata all that time ago was considerably worse for wear.

It had even put the fight out of Naruto.

"Now apologise to Hinata you bastard!"

"_Well, mostly"_ Hanabi reconsidered, watching a number of birds flee from their perches in the trees at the sound of the blondes outburst.

"Fine, fine" the set upon ninja conceded, still unsure why he had to apologise for hurting this girl, but the shorter girl with the similarly strange eyes didn't have to apologise for incapacitating one of his team mates. Standing up gingerly, he walked over to the embarrassed girl.

"Sorry" he bowed slightly, not helping Hinata's colour. She didn't know how to respond.

"It was nothing personal" he went on, straightening up. Hinata nodded slightly.

"Y-Yeah, O-Of course" she stuttered, glancing at Naruto nervously.

"Hmm, I would still prefer to rough him up a bit" Naruto mused, still a little unsatisfied. Hinata looked shocked.

"N-Naruto-kun!" she remonstrated. The blue eyed boy held his hands up and chuckled slightly.

"Hehe, Sorry" he apologised, mollifying the indigo haired girl slightly.

There was a moment of awkward silence as the two sets of ninja regarded each other.

"Okay… well I guess we'll be going…" Naruto said slowly, turning with his two team mates and beginning to leave. He was stopped by a shout from the Grass ninja.

"Wait!" he called, causing the three of them to face him. To their surprise, for the first time, he looked a little embarrassed.

Hinata took pity on him.

"Y-Yes?" she inquired tentatively. The Kusa shinobi seemed to shrug to himself before continuing.

"Do you still have that forehead protector you… took?" he asked. Hanabi produced something from her pack and held it up.

"This? Why?" she enquired, the Kusagakure hitai-ate swinging from her fist.

"We need it to progress" the Grass ninja reminded her. Hanabi frowned, her hand dropping.

"You got three other forehead protectors on your own?" she asked, the tone of her voice making it evident she didn't believe it.

"No, Maiku helped with two of the three" he pointed to the ninja Hanabi hadn't attacked on the first day.

"Until he got injured" he finished.

Hanabi looked unsure, until her sister stepped in front of her and put her hand on the metal plate.

"W-We've got what we need w-without this" she pointed out, lifting it gently from her sisters unresisting hand.

Both sides watched in a slight daze as the indigo haired girl walked the short distance to the Grass ninja, still barefoot save for the bandages, and offered him the forehead protector.

"Thanks" he said; his voice warm. Hinata only smiled, before turning around and rejoining her team mates.

XXXXXXXXXX

"You didn't have to do that Hinata" Naruto pointed out, still slightly confused as to why she would help someone who hurt her. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the gesture she had made, but…

"H-He said when he h-hurt me it wasn't p-personal. I t-think he was telling the t-truth" Hinata explained. Naruto frowned, his thoughts shifting back to the Rain kunoichi.

"Do you think that matters?" he asked quietly, thinking of the look he had been given.

"O-Of course!" she replied, a little louder than she had intended. She blushed, aware of the blue eyed gaze.

"I-I mean, we don't hurt p-people for no reason. T-That's important" she clarified. Naruto nodded slightly, feeling better somehow.

"Yeah" he agreed, smiling at the still blushing girl.

A small cough broke into their thoughts. Both looked at the small girl standing a little way away.

"We're here" she stated, gesturing towards a large set of double doors.

"Huh?" Naruto questioned, his brain taking a few seconds before it latched on.

"I-I think it's about the r-right time too" Hinata ventured. Something in the blonde's brain clicked.

"Ohhh" he breathed, joining the other two in opening the doors.

The entrance to the tower was exactly as Naruto remembered it. A largish square room, balconies lining either side of it and a board on the back wall, this time there with no writing on.

Though there was a figure hunched against the back wall. It raised its head slowly.

"Naruto?" it drawled.

"Shikamaru?" Naruto replied, squinting slightly in the gloom as the three of them approached the figure. There was a sigh as they rose.

"What am I talking about, of course it's you. Who else wears orange? Hi Hinata" he acknowledged the older Hyuuga. He looked down questioningly at the shorter sister, hands now in his pockets.

"Hanabi" Hanabi stated. The pineapple haired boy nodded, before returning to Naruto.

"You know, I could have been in here for a day. A whole day…peace… quiet… sleep…" he drawled wistfully.

"Of all the doors you had to pick, it had to be mine huh?" he sighed. Naruto laughed, and Hinata giggled. Hanabi remained silent.

"Oh well" Shikamaru conceded.

"Let's see what you've got" he said holding out his hands. Three Rain hitai-ate were duly placed in his palms. The Konoha ones remained with their owners.

The dark haired boy nodded.

"Looks good" he stated, drawing himself up slightly.

"Congratulations. You pass the second test" he said loudly, though in the exact same bored tone.

"Now what?" Naruto asked, feeling the anti-climax quite badly as a result of the lazy Chuunin. Shikamaru shrugged.

"I guess you can go home and get some rest" he suggested.

"Make sure you're back here this time tomorrow though, there could be preliminaries" he informed them, before wandering out of a side door, hand raised in farewell.

The three team mates watched the retreating back of Shikamaru before snapping out of the tedium he had infected the situation with. Naruto was the first to recover.

"We passed Hinata! Easy huh?" he exclaimed. Hinata blushed and smiled.

"Yeah… we did well…" she replied softly.

"_Well that was a little anti-climactic"_ Hanabi thought to herself.

XXXXXXXXXX

Forget cliff-hangers, anti-climaxes are where it's at! Dunno what Naruto was expecting though… Or Hanabi.

Oh, I'm technically in full essay mode right now. I haven't released this chapter at all. (wink). I'm gonna regret this in so many ways… Ah well, hope you enjoyed. Questions will start being answered soon (by which I mean after essay completion). They will include, "What happened to Kiba?" and "Where's Sakura and Kakashi?"

I have a question for you all though. Can anyone find the Pink Floyd lyric in this chapter? I've been listening to one particular song a lot lately. It only has one line of lyrics in the entire song if you want a clue.

Anyway, I should go. I'll probably reply to reviews soon. When I really shouldn't be…

I'm a lazy, easily distracted person.

Later.


	34. Meetings

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime.

Hmm, I owe you all an explanation.

I'M NOT DEAD! (thought I'd get that outta the way).

Just to make sure everyone knows, I do update whenever I can. Unfortunately circumstances have conspired in the last month to screw up all of my plans. And I mean all of them. I finished my second essay… a long time ago… Anyway, literally the day I finished it I got a phone call from my parents to say my uncle had passed away. I spent the next day at uni, sorting stuff out, and then I went straight home. I started this chapter a coupla weeks ago, after getting back, but I missed out on a week of revision due to… everything… and then I had three exams in four days... I now have about a week and a half until my next exam, so you all get this chapter. And hopefully another one or two. I'm sick of work. Plus, if I continue the way I'm going I'll approach a reasonable sleeping time from 'the other side' as it were. It's half seven in the morning…

Anyway, hope everyone understands.

Chapter 34: Meetings

After the initial elation at completing the second test, the three team mates had realised that they were still in a tower in the middle of the forest, and their only source of information had just left the room.

On finding the lazy Chuunin in question they had been directed to an underground passageway, leading them safely away from the test that still had a full day to run before its completion.

Of course, Naruto was still ebullient.

"Ha!"

"One more step towards Chuunin!" he enthused, grinning widely.

Next to him, Hinata smiled.

"_I'm pleased too… but is he really as happy as he looks?"_ she asked herself worriedly, thinking of the state he had been in less than twenty four hours ago.

To be honest, she didn't know. Unfortunately, she doubted it.

On the far right of the group, Hanabi only dimly registered both the antics of the blue eyed blonde and her blushing sister. In the aftermath of the second test her thoughts had already returned to the experiences she had gained within the forest.

The brown haired girl found herself relieved as her sister's voice attracted her attention. She turned her head.

"Huh?" she asked, unable to conceal her distraction.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked quietly, taking a moment with her sister as Naruto continued his loud contemplation over what was up next.

"Yeah" Hanabi confirmed, noting the look of worry in her kind sister's face. Hinata only nodded slowly in response as the three of them continued to travel down the dimly lit passageway.

"_I shouldn't give her any more to worry about"_ Hanabi thought to herself, watching her sister's attention transfer back over to the blonde as he started to talk to her.

Carefully assembling a neutral expression, Hanabi focused ahead and tried to clear her mind. Focusing straight ahead, the brown haired girl spotted another stairwell leading down from the left and into the passageway. The loud blonde on the other side of her sister now completely ignored, the girl found herself focusing on the shadows that were falling across the way ahead.

"When we get back into the village, we've got to get some food!" Naruto continued, oblivious. Beside him, Hinata similarly found her concentration taken by the blue eyed gaze of the seemingly happy ninja.

"Not that those berries didn't help, but ramen is so much more-" Naruto paused mid-sentence to look at the indigo haired girl beside him.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"You're kinda walking a bit funny, are your feet okay?" he questioned.

Hinata nodded quickly.

"Mhmm, just a l-little sore" she lied, checking her step. The blonde looked unconvinced.

"You're sure?"

She gave him a reassuring smile.

"Ye-" Hinata began, her eyes fixed on Naruto's face.

"Look out!" Hanabi called out as she tugged her sister backwards by her sleeve, just barely allowing her sister to avoid the person who had stepped out in front of her.

"Watch where you're going" the figure snapped at the surprised lavender eyed girl.

"Hey! You're the one who stepped out!" Naruto protested, striding up to the frowning girl.

The newcomer was quite a bit shorter than him, Hanabi noticed. The hard green eyes were slowly moving from her sister's face and onto her new blonde target, though one of those orbs was slightly hidden behind part of her auburn hair. Despite the heat, which pervaded the underground passageway due to the torches lining the walls, she was wearing a heavy trench coat which reached her knees in addition to, the brown haired girl assumed, everything else underneath. The pants went beyond the hem of the trench coat and all the way down to her feet which themselves were covered in another sort of heavy footwear. The entire outfit was a copper colour, save for a single silver stripe that ran diagonally across both the coat and the pants. The effect was that the only parts of her body that were actually visible were the head and the hands.

And it was this girl that had now rounded on the male member of the team.

It was quite a shock then, to see the look on her face shift within seconds, first to a look of horror, and then slowly to one of incredible rage.

"You're dead…" the green eyed girl whispered slowly, her gaze exuding barely suppressed killing intent towards the blonde in front of her.

"What!?" Naruto exclaimed, a grimace appearing on his face as he stepped back slightly and raised his fists.

Beside Naruto, Hinata looked between the two opposed ninja and wondered what had set the girl off. The blue eyes of the blonde she so admired had hardened, but they were nothing compared to the coldness that the green eyed gaze returned.

"_So much hatred…why?"_ Hinata asked herself, suddenly feeling cold despite the heat of the passageway.

Beside her sister, Hanabi had already activated her Byakugan and the white eyed girl was shocked by what she saw.

"_Chakra is seeping into the walls, the ceiling…and the floor…"_ she realised, watching as more energy bled from the newly arrived girl and into the rock.

"Who are you? Are you threatening me?" Naruto questioned forcefully, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

But the girl seemed not to hear him, choosing only to continue her unblinking stare.

"_This is one of the three Shikamaru warned us about"_ Hinata and Naruto thought together. Though exactly why she had reacted this way neither of them knew.

Meanwhile, Eri found herself unable to shake from her mind the similarities between her village's most hated enemy, and the boy before her.

"_He's dead… he __is__ dead…so __who__is__this__!?"_ she practically screamed within her own head, the image of a face engraved on a mountain flashing over and over within her rage filled mind.

"_The chakra is flaring!"_ Hanabi gasped out loud at the thought.

"Eri!" a voice shouted out, and before Hanabi's eyes the chakra that had built up dissipated instantly.

The killing intent coming from the girl opposite Naruto only abated a little however, and it was not until what seemed like a carbon copy of the angry girl came to her side that her gaze shifted from the face of the blonde haired and blue eyed ninja.

"What were you doing? What were you doing?" Mihoto asked frenziedly, looking into her twin's eyes desperately.

Eri's gaze was back on Naruto, but this time it was more of a deadened, sullen look than a one of hatred. Somewhere though, all three members of the team from Konoha could all still feel something under the surface in her eyes.

Mihoto followed the line of sight of her sister.

"…!" she managed, barely stifling the gasp that had threatened to escape her mouth.

"_He looks so much like…"_ Mihoto paused in thought and looked back at her twin.

"_We can't stick around here…"_ she told herself, instantly realising the source of her sister's rage.

"Hey! What's going on?" a voice called from the stairwell. The question was followed a moment later by a long shadow, and then one of the tallest people Hanabi had ever seen.

"Nothing! We're just going!" Mihoto replied quickly, her voice pitched higher than usual as she took her sister by the arm and carefully, but firmly, pulled her away.

"Doesn't look like nothing-" Sho began, before his concerned gaze caught the look in the eyes of each twin as they passed.

For the third time, Naruto had a feeling of incredible pressure as now a set of brown eyes bored into his own. The split second look of surprise mirrored the first two looks he had received, but the blonde haired ninja found himself almost being scanned for something by the eyes of the newest newcomer. When his eyes finally moved away, Naruto found himself inexplicably relieved.

Looking quickly between the two other team mates, Sho then nodded politely to the three of them. And disappeared.

There was a few seconds silence as the three Konoha ninja digested the events that had just passed. Both Hinata and Hanabi breathed a small sigh of relief, while Naruto slowly lowered his fists.

"_That was __Shunshin no Jutsu right?"_ Hanabi asked herself, finally deactivating her doujutsu.

"What the hell was that about?!" Naruto shouted, the pent up tension releasing itself as he vented his frustration. Hinata only looked up the passageway.

The two girls had disappeared as well. Unfortunately, Naruto noticed this as well.

"Argh! Get back here!" he shouted, taking off at a sprint down the deserted corridor.

"Naruto-kun, wait!" Hinata called after him, taking off in pursuit. Frowning slightly, Hanabi followed silently behind.

"_He really has improved"_ Hinata thought to herself as she watched Naruto speed ahead. Adding extra bursts of chakra to her strides, the indigo haired girl closed the distance slightly but an insistent and growing pain in her feet was, to her annoyance, slowing her down.

It was not until they reached the exit of the tunnel that the angry boy finally stopped, the bright sunshine the polar opposite of the blonde's mood.

"Gah! She got away!" he complained, scanning the area around the stairs with a frown.

"Can you believe that? Threatening me when I don't even know her?!" he turned to the slightly out of breath Hinata, who had finally caught up.

"Naruto-kun-" she tried, but she was cut off by the irate blonde.

"When I find her…" he started darkly, before actually taking in the indigo haired girl's arrival.

"Wait, Hinata… Hinata! Your feet!" he pointed behind the lavender eyed girl.

Slowly turning around, Hinata found herself looking at a number of reddish-brown marks on the stairs and the earth leading away from them. It took a moment for the surprised lavender eyed girl to realise that the footprints were in fact made by her own blood.

"_Maybe I should have paid more attention to the pain in my feet…and not run"_ she thought, a sudden feeling of light headedness striking her.

"We need to get you to the hospital" Hinata heard Naruto say, though it sounded as if he was saying it from a long way off.

"_The effects of the soldier pill wearing off? Blood loss?"_ she asked herself, raising a hand to her head and stepping forward.

"Whoa Hinata, I think you need some help!" Naruto exclaimed, catching the staggering girl and lifting the indigo haired girl to her feet.

Unfortunately, this didn't help her maintain what little of her consciousness was left, and the lavender eyed girl found her face heating up in the manner it always seemed to when he got this close. A higher pitched voice spoke up next to her but the words were lost as she finally fainted, the triple combination proving too much for the poor girl.

"She really can't spare the blood to her face…" Hanabi repeated a little more quietly, as Naruto hoisted the limp girl into his arms, one under the knee and the other firmly beneath her back.

XXXXXXXXXX

"What were you thinking? What were you doing?" Mihoto raged, pacing the small apartment in a frenzy of worried activity. Her sister merely scowled where she sat.

"_It's amazing; at times like these you really can tell that they're twins. This is normally Eri's territory"_ Sho told himself.

Though he couldn't see the two girls, he could still hear them. A few minutes ago he had been told by Mihoto to leave the room until they had sorted everything out, and she had waited until he was safely out on the street before starting.

However perhaps amidst the rage, it seemed that she had forgotten that he could pass through walls.

"_Technically, I'm not lying"_ he told himself.

"_I'm in a bedroom, not __that__ room"_ he reasoned, as the silence was broken again by another barrage of questions.

"You were going to attack him weren't you? You were going to kill him?" the angry twin paused for a second.

No answer.

"And why? Because the guy has a passing resemblance to him? He's dead. Gone"

"And so is our entire family" Eri spat.

"And so you would kill anyone who looks remotely like him?" Mihoto countered.

There was a few moments silence.

"I think coming here was a mistake. If you're going to act like this… You're changing… or you've changed since we got here" Mihoto's voice dropped, her anger fading away to a mixture of sadness and hurt.

"I haven't changed" Eri retorted.

Mihoto regarded her sister with a sad look.

"That's what I'm most worried about, I guess…" she admitted quietly, her eyes downcast. She took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, I'm not going to help" she stated levelly. Eri looked up.

"You promised" she said darkly. Mihoto nodded slowly.

"I know I did. But when I think of what our parents would think of it-"

"We don't know what they would think! We don't know them, and we never will! And he's the reason why!" Eri was on her feet now, staring into her sister's dejected face.

"Yes but… I don't think they would want us to do this. We shouldn't throw away the lives we have…" Mihoto trailed off.

"He's the reason you're the way you are!" Eri shouted, before she could stop herself.

The temperature in the room dropped several degrees.

"Wait, that's not what I-" Eri started, but was cut off.

"No. You're right, he's the reason I'm the way I am" Mihoto repeated coldly, the pain visible in her eyes.

"Mi-chan-"

"Don't" Mihoto snapped, heading for the door.

"I'm going out. Don't follow me. Either of you" she stated, before the door closed behind her.

"_Crap"_ the two remaining people in the apartment thought as one.

XXXXXXXXXX

"She'll be fine" Ino reassured the two of them.

"She's just a little tired on top of her injuries. Let her have some rest"

"_I'm sure your presence didn't help either"_ Ino added to herself, playing through the earlier scene in her imagination.

"Thanks Ino. When she wakes up, tell her not to forget tomorrow!" said Naruto.

Ino's eyes narrowed slyly.

"What? You two going out or something?" she asked. The blue eyed boy stiffened slightly.

"No! We're friends… and team mates" he retorted. He looked down at the sleeping girl.

"Let's go" he said awkwardly to the younger Hyuuga, and both of the conscious girls thought they could see a tinge of pink on the boys face.

"She's a little young for you isn't she?" Ino quipped, unable to resist another jab at the now embarrassed spiky haired blonde.

"Shut up!" Naruto complained, storming out the door followed by a half amused and half embarrassed Hanabi.

XXXXXXXXXX

Out in the bright sunshine, the streets of Konoha were as busy as ever. The short girl and the older blonde were walking down the main road away from the hospital.

It seemed to the blonde that Hanabi was still embarrassed by Ino's joke. He smiled.

"Don't worry about Ino, I ignore a lot of what she says"

His thoughts turned back to the days of Sasuke obsession and his grin widened slightly.

"She's a crazy girl" he explained. Hanabi nodded, seemingly accepting this.

"_She really __is__ sheltered. That was __obviously__ a joke and she took it a little too seriously"_ Naruto thought to himself, an idea solidifying in his mind.

"I have to go this way to get home" the small brown haired girl stated, pointing down a side street and breaking into Naruto's thoughts.

"Actually, there's a couple of people I'd like you to meet. Actually, one in particular. I'm kinda his idol" the blonde revealed proudly.

"You're his idol?"

"Yeah, cool huh?" Naruto confirmed, missing the tone of the small girls voice.

"Now just to find him" Naruto muttered as he set off down the street, Hanabi following behind.

"Though he usually-"

"Naruto-nii-san!" a voice called out.

"-finds me" the blue eyed boy finished with a smile, turning around.

"Hey Konohamaru, where's the rest of the team? You running from the closet pervert again? Oh, that reminds me!" Naruto's face lit up.

Hanabi found herself reduced to looking between the two males, waiting to be introduced. To her surprise, the newcomer did look slightly familiar.

"What?" Konohamaru questioned, growing excited at the blonde's excitement.

"The closet pervert was our first examiner! And he came up with a really evil test" he lowered his voice conspiratorially and shifted his eyes about. The younger boy did the same.

Hanabi found herself blinking owlishly at their antics.

"But I got him back" Naruto 'confided', winking. Konohamaru grinned.

"With 'that'?" he questioned eagerly.

"Yeah!"

"Naruto-nii-san, you rock!" the brown haired boy laughed.

"_Is this how they always act?"_ Hanabi asked herself.

In an attempt to move the conversation along, Hanabi coughed, bringing the two grinning boys back down to earth. Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Oh yeah, sorry. Konohamaru, this is Hanabi. I thought it'd be a good idea to introduce you two" he explained.

Konohamaru looked suspicious.

"Why?" he paused, then reached a conclusion. A wrong one.

"Your girlfriend? She's a bit young for you isn't she?" the bescarfed boy looked at her critically.

"Argh! People have got to stop saying that! She's my friend! Well-" he turned to the girl in question.

"If that's okay with you?" he asked. Hanabi nodded.

"Y-Yes" she managed.

"_Wait, I'm talking like nee-chan!"_ she thought with a jolt.

"I mean: Yes, that's okay" Hanabi corrected herself. Naruto smiled.

"Great. Hanabi, this is Konohamaru" he introduced.

"I know" Hanabi stated.

Naruto raised a hand to the back of his head again.

"Yeah, I guess you heard…" he conceded. But Hanabi shook her head.

"No, I've met him before" she explained.

"You have?" the blonde turned to Konohamaru.

"I have?" the brown haired boy asked, his voice just as incredulous.

"You're the Third Hokage's grandson, right?" she asked levelly.

Konohamaru's eyes narrowed.

"So what if I am?"

"We were introduced while my father was meeting the Third. You were thrown out for trying to attack him"

There was a pause, and the Hyuuga girl looked expectantly at the boy in front of her.

"Yeah, that sounds about right" he admitted sheepishly, raising an arm behind his head mirroring the blonde next to him. Hanabi looked between them.

Both shinobi dropped their arms as soon as they realised.

"So anyway, what are you two doing together anyway?" Konohamaru wondered aloud.

"Remember the problem I had? Well, Hinata-" Naruto began, but the bescarfed boy in front of him was already connecting the dots. His eyes widened.

"Wait. She's the other member of the team who's taking the Chuunin exams?" he shouted, pointing at the small girl.

"Yes, why?" she inquired, frowning slightly at the fact she was being referred to as if she weren't there.

"She's tiny, how old is she?"

"I'm ten"

"Exactly! I'm two years older than her! I knew I should have been allowed to do it!" the brown haired boy complained to the spiky haired blonde, finger still pointing accusingly at the girl.

"How could you give my place to her? I could easily take her" the outraged boy protested.

"I doubt that" Hanabi countered.

"You wanna fight?" the irate boy asked, finally turning back to the girl in question.

"Not really"

"Scared?"

"No"

"_This isn't what I had in mind…"_ Naruto found himself thinking awkwardly, about to step in.

But at that moment a figure in a copper coloured outfit flashed across the street ahead. And the fresh memory of a set of cold green eyes sat up again in his mind.

"You sound scared to me, don't you think Naru-" he turned.

"-to…" he finished, addressing thin air.

"He went that way" Hanabi informed him, nodding in the direction the blonde had just taken off.

The boy looked flustered for a moment, before he found his footing again and scowled.

"Don't change the subject! Are you gonna fight or not?" he demanded, pointing his fist at her.

The Hyuuga girl regarded him for a moment.

"Fine" she agreed, throwing her long brown hair behind her and activating her Byakugan as she did so.

"Heh. Takes more than that to scare me" Konohamaru grinned.

Hanabi raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Then lead the way" she stated simply.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_Where did she go?"_ Naruto asked himself, leaping from rooftop to rooftop in an attempt to get an aerial view of the streets below.

He had lost sight of her for now, but despite the throng that accompanied the end of the day's trading Naruto knew he had a few advantages.

The first was that the person he was pursuing was wearing clothes that not only stood out from the crowd but was also a massive disadvantage in the late afternoon heat.

"_There!"_ he exclaimed inwardly, spying the long coat slipping past a small group and down another street.

The second advantage, he told himself triumphantly, was that he knew Konoha far better than some foreign ninja.

"_And I can do __this__"_ he said to himself, leaping between two buildings and considerably cutting the distance between him and his target.

"_Looks like she's going in the direction of one of the training grounds"_ Naruto realised, slowing down slightly as they left the built up area of town. He knew it would be easier to be noticed from here on out. Plus she seemed to be slowing down too.

The next hour or two involved schlepping from building to building, and then eventually from tree to tree in pursuit until finally the girl stopped at a clearing, and then sat down at the base of a tree.

"_Now what?"_ Naruto wondered from his position behind another tree a little way off. Should he leap out and demand an explanation for earlier, or try to approach cautiously? In truth, he had to admit he hadn't put much thought into what would happen after he caught up.

"Why did you follow me?"

"Ahh!" Naruto yelped, falling over in surprise. He quickly righted himself and pointed accusingly at the girl now looking at him.

""What the hell is with you?!" he cried out.

"You threaten me, glare at me, then disappear without a word!" he stepped forward, towards the sitting girl, his blue eyes ablaze.

He faltered slightly at the sudden warm smile.

"You've got the wrong sister" she apologised.

"Oh…" was all Naruto could manage, caught completely off balance by the physical similarity between the two girls, and their seemingly polar opposite personalities.

There was a long silence, which got more and more awkward for the blonde as it went on. Oddly enough though, it was the green eyed girl that broke it.

"You do look very similar to him though…" she said quietly, almost to herself.

"To who?" he enquired.

The auburn haired girl looked up, almost as if she had forgotten he was there.

"Huh? Oh, you don't know? His face is engraved on your mountain" she tried.

Naruto looked blankly at the girl.

"Your Fourth Hokage…?" she tried again. To her surprise the blonde's face lit up.

"Really!? That's great!" he exclaimed. The girl looked at him oddly.

"Is it?" she asked.

Now it was Naruto's turn to look at the girl oddly.

"Of course! He was an awesome ninja! When I become Hokage I want to be just like him!" he announced.

The girl seemed to consider this.

"It's the reason she threatened you" she revealed, her voice still quiet.

Naruto blinked.

"What? Why?" he asked.

The girl's hand reached towards a less worn rectangular spot on the chest area of her coat. Finding nothing she paused slightly, withdrew an arm from a sleeve and then began to rummage inside the heavy coat. Naruto looked on bemusedly.

"Here" she stated simply, giving the blonde a silver forehead protector. He examined the symbol inscribed on the metal plate.

"Rock village? So?" he handed it back.

He got another funny look from the girl.

"You're not very good at history are you?" she stated simply.

"Hey!" he complained.

"Sorry. But history isn't your strong suit right?" she guessed.

The blue eyed boy looked uncomfortable.

"I guess…" he admitted begrudgingly.

"Still, I'm surprised you don't know about the history between the Rock village and the Leaf village" she said, again seeming to talk to herself.

"Everyone in our village knows about the Fourth Hokage…" she said, her words seemingly directed towards the sky.

"Really?! An entire foreign village knows about him?! That's awesome" Naruto enthused, impressed.

The girl gave a wan smile.

"It's probably because he killed hundreds of Rock ninja, including both mine and my sister's entire family, save the two who eventually became our parents of course" she said quietly.

"Though they're gone now as well…" she continued sadly.

Her gaze dropped from the sky and into the shocked eyes of the blonde before her.

"You asked why" she stated simply, getting to her feet slowly.

"But…" Naruto managed to speak.

"He's your idol right? And you love this village?" she asked.

Naruto only nodded dumbly.

"That's fine. It was a war, and he was probably a great man in your village. But we won't ever see him, or this place, like you do. And that's one of the reasons she feels and acts the way she does, even if I don't like it"

Stood up, the girl barely came up to his chin, so she had to look up through a lock of hair to see his expression.

It wasn't until she began to walk away that Naruto finally found himself able to speak.

"Wait!" he called out.

The girl turned around.

"You don't hate us. Why?" he asked desperately. The auburn haired girl cocked her head slightly.

"Don't I?" she asked, a small smile on her lips. Her expression turned more serious again.

"No, you're right. I guess I had other problems…" she told the blonde. She seemed to think for a moment.

"Tell me, it's your dream to be Hokage right?" she enquired.

"Yeah…" Naruto answered; his mouth now a little dry. The girl smiled.

"I had a dream once…" she revealed, turning back around.

"Trust me, things look a lot different once you've reached it" she called behind her.

XXXXXXXXXX

I was considering continuing a little bit longer, but that seemed the perfect way to end it.

Y'know originally this chapter was gonna be all fluffy cos of my slight depression due to…events. But now because I'm feeling okay, it's kinda got a little angsty… Go figure. Nevermind, the fluff idea is still there, it's just a case of where to fit it in. I'm not one hundred percent sure what I'm gonna do with Hanabi and Konohamaru (I do have a general idea…) so ideas/thoughts are welcome as always.

Next chapter: We're FINALLY gonna find out what's happened to Kiba and Akamaru. Among other things.

Look forward to that.

Questions are welcome. I might even reply to all those reviews, FINALLY. (again).

If you feel you can't wait, then occupy your meantime with a recently finished fic called L:O:V:E, by the Dreamers of Dreams. I contributed to the very end (just a humory bit, the main story itself is pure untainted gold. Trust me).

Once again, I apologise for the wait. I feel awful for making people wait A WHOLE MONTH… that's shocking…

Anyway, I must sleep. It seems when I'm tired I tend to overcapitalise words. Like FINALLY.

Have a good one.

Later.


	35. The Preliminaries

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. This chapter was a bit of a dilemma for me to be quite honest. I was actually planning to have more in this chapter. That was, until I realised that fitting seven separate fights, a fluffy NaruHina moment and what had happened to Kiba all in one chapter was a frankly insane idea. Fortunately, there is a moment in all of these ideas where it can be chopped into two. The upshot? Among other things, Kiba will have to wait, sorry. Please don't think i'm copping out though, even cut in half it's ending up at six thousand plus words which makes it easily my longest chapter. Doing it this way means you get a chapter earlier than if I didn't cut it up.

Enjoy.

Chapter 35: The Preliminaries

For Hinata, waking up in the hospital the previous evening had been quite a surprise and it wasn't until her memory had supplied her with the recollection of bleeding feet, fatigue and an incredibly close blonde that she had finally pieced together the reasons behind her predicament.

Fortunately, as she stood next to the said blonde, Hinata had to admit that despite the slight tint to her cheeks that seemed to come hand in hand with any degree of closeness to the boy, she felt fine.

The injuries to her feet had finally been tended to, and resolved, by a medical professional and in fact her treatment had been fast tracked slightly due to her participation in the Chuunin exams.

Fatigue was also no longer an issue. After her short stay in the hospital, she had returned home and almost immediately gone back to bed.

After sleeping in a little longer than normal, she had performed her usual morning duties until Naruto had finally arrived shortly after noon. The two sisters and the blonde had then made their back to the tower, though the walk had been curiously silent. She had asked Naruto if something was wrong, but he had told her not to worry about it, and Hinata could tell he was thinking deeply about something.

"_I just can't tell whether he's upset or just thinking…"_ she said to herself.

"_At least he asked me if my feet were okay"_ the indigo haired girl reasoned, taking a moment to look around the large preliminary stage room at the various other ninja from her sitting position.

Aside from the three Rock ninja sitting against the opposite wall who had arrived before them, there was a team of Lightning ninja near the raised platform and another team of Rain ninja underneath the stairs.

"_Twelve people…"_ Hinata considered. Normally, there were no more than ten participants allowed in the final exam. Sometimes less.

"_That means there will be at least two preliminary matches"_ she calculated, taking stock of her potential opponents again.

Taking into account the incident with the Rock ninja the day before, Hinata didn't fancy a match against any one of them. The tall, older ninja looked tough and the two twins…

"_Strange…"_ she thought to herself. Despite the apparent difference in attitude the day before, the two girls were wearing the exact same expression of annoyance making it impossible to tell the difference between them. Wondering why that was, her gaze travelled to the blonde next to her.

"_He's looking at the two of them as well…"_ she realised, trying and failing to read his expression. She decided to try and cheer him up a little.

"Naruto-kun" she said softly, her shyness getting the better of her.

No response.

"Naruto-kun" she repeated a little more loudly, causing the blue eyed boy to blink and turn.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Hinata" he apologised, grinning. The indigo haired girl smiled back, her blush increasing slightly.

"Let's do our best!" she managed, instantly pleased with herself at the sudden wide smile the boy presented.

"Yeah!" he agreed, nodding. Hinata was right.

"_I can't get distracted, there'll be time for thinking later"_ he told himself confidently. Though there was one question…

"Hey Hinata-" Naruto began as Hinata's smile changed to a questioning look.

But his question was cut off by a shout from the stage.

"Alright, everyone assemble over here!" Anko's voice called out, three more ninja behind her.

"I guess we'll have to wait" Naruto conceded, rising to his feet from his cross legged position then waiting for the other two girls to follow suit. Rising herself, HInata wondered what he had wanted to ask her.

Making their way over, the door onto the platform opened and through stepped-

"Tsunade-b-" was as far as the spiky haired ninja got before he was silenced by a glare hot enough to turn him into a shadow against the back wall. His mouth closed like a trap, almost of its own accord.

On his left, Hinata was looking at the three ninja behind Anko who were now joining the small group. Two Sand ninja, and…

"_The Grass ninja from yesterday!"_ Hinata realised, as the boy she had gifted a forehead protector to gave her a silent nod of recognition.

With the three extra ninja, the total number of people hoping to make it to the final stage had risen to fifteen.

"_There should be at least four or five matches now, if not more"_ Hinata considered, watching the last of the Rain ninja from the back join the long line of examinees.

"The Hokage will now explain what will happen now" Anko called out, taking her position in front of the two giant stone hands.

As Tsunade stepped forward, Naruto tried to identify a few more people from the line up of non examinees that stood off to the side. A stocky Rain shinobi looked like an instructor, as did two other representatives with Lightning and Grass headbands. Considering the fact that there were now two Sand shinobi the blonde reasoned that Temari must therefore also be in that group in that capacity. However, to his surprise there didn't seem to be a corresponding person from the Rock village.

This thought only lasted a moment though and as Tsunade began to speak his attention shifted to the golden eyed woman.

"Firstly, congratulations for getting this far" she started, seeming to assess the small group.

"I will move straight to the point" the blonde woman continued.

"On completing the second test, you were all informed of the possibility of preliminary matches. Due to the number of potentially proceeding candidates, I have deemed it necessary to hold enough matches to reduce the field to a maximum of eight persons. Considering those who wanted to withdraw have already done so, this therefore means there will be seven preliminary matches, beginning right now" she stopped as protests erupted from one of the two Sand ninja.

"The fact that others completed the second test before you means that they do get an advantage, yes" she replied.

"They bought themselves time to rest. The matches will take place now" she stated, her voice making it abundantly clear the subject was not open for debate. The shinobi in question quietened down.

"Those who pass through to the third test will compete in two weeks time; you will be informed of your opponent today, after the preliminaries" she informed them, turning slightly.

"The proctor for these preliminary matches will be Nara Shikamaru" she said, gesturing and stepping back.

Naruto barely managed to stop himself from calling out and greeting the lazy boy who seemed to come out of nowhere to confront the group of examinees in front of him. As he finished making his way to the front of the stage, Naruto noticed he was wearing some sort of headset.

On the other side of the room, each of the three Rock ninja recognised the boy who had stopped their attacks in their tracks.

"_Considering his abilities, a good choice for a proctor"_ Sho told himself, similar thoughts echoing in the heads of the two girls.

"There is one rule: If you give up, the match ends and you lose. I will step in at this point, or if I deem it unnecessary to continue. Other than that, it is a battle. Kill, knock out, or force your opponent to admit defeat to win" he drawled.

He ignored the looks of surprise at his blunt approach.

"We will determine match ups using this electronic scoreboard" he gestured towards the now open screen.

"The first match will be between…" he raised his hand into the air and names began to skip across the board.

"Wait!" one of the Rain ninja called out.

"That's it?" he asked, the names still flickering above them.

Shikamaru sighed.

"If you don't want to die, give up. That's the most important thing to remember. The rest is my judgement" he repeated as the scoreboard finally flashed up two names. He turned back towards the scoreboard.

"Ota Miyu vs Uzumaki Naruto" he read out. There was a brief moment of silence as half the room wondered who the two people were.

"The two of you, step forward. Everyone else, up onto the balconies" the black haired boy stated.

"I'm first?!" the blonde was surprised at his luck. He turned to Hinata, who seemed to be hovering slightly. Most of the other examinees had already either jumped onto the balcony or were making their way to the stairs.

"Don't you have to get up there?" he asked, slightly worried that the indigo haired girl suddenly wasn't making eye contact with him.

"Y-Yeah… Ano… Good luck Naruto-kun!" she finally managed.

"Thanks Hinata" Naruto grinned at her slightly odd behaviour.

"Hey Hinata, you need to go" Shikamaru warned the now blushing girl.

"Oh! Sorry!" she apologised, looking shocked suddenly before leaping up next to her sister on the balcony above and leaving only two examinees on the floor below.

Now that he had a chance to actually look at his opponent, Naruto could see that she was a Lightning ninja. Shortish, with an athletic build and probably only slightly younger than him, she seemed more suited for speed than power. Her shoulder length dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her forehead protector seemed to be sewn into a tightly fitting light blue shirt that exposed her arms. White shorts gave way to a kunai holster on either leg, with sandals covering her feet.

Up on the balcony Sho assessed the Lightning ninja standing opposite the blonde and then looked at the remaining Kumo-nin away to his left.

"_I'm guessing whoever caused those deaths is in that team. But who is it?"_ he asked himself.

"Begin" Shikamaru intoned, leaping backwards.

No sooner had the words left the pineapple haired boy's mouth; Naruto formed his trademark seal and concentrated his chakra.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he cried, smoke billowing around the room and masking not only the location of the real Naruto, but all of his clones.

With the smoke obscuring her vision, the dark haired girl plunged both hands into the holsters at her legs and sent ten shuriken scything into the white mass. A number of cries rang out from behind the screen, satisfying the still standing girl, but a split second later her volley was answered by triple the number of spinning weapons.

Leaping to the side, the ponytailed girl barely dodged the volley of shuriken and immediately had to deal with a punch thrown by an orange blur. Ducking quickly and turning her leap into a clumsy tackle, the two of them fell to the floor and her opponent promptly exploded into more white smoke.

The larger amount of smoke was now clearing, and on her back, the Lightning kunoichi could see seven airborne blondes hurtling towards her. Rolling quickly, the ground next to her head cracked with the impact of three blows as she managed to half rise to her feet and swipe one of them to the floor.

As the fourth and fifth clones plunged toward her she managed to parry their kicks, but was now leaving herself open to the attacks of the last two, giving herself just enough time to once again delve into her kunai holsters and throw.

Her relief turned to shock as at the last second one of the airborne blondes grabbed the other and moved him out of the way of the oncoming projectile, before exploding itself. She scarcely had the time to roll with the duplicate Naruto's kick before she was sent skidding halfway across the room by the force of the blow to her shoulder.

The attacking clone in question backflipped away and landed lightly next to its creator, the clones that had been the backup grinning widely.

Shikamaru watched the girl rise gingerly to her feet, holding the kicked left shoulder. Her elbow also seemed to be grazed and slightly torn from the impact with the floor. Ignoring the blonde for the moment the girl inspected her injuries and then, to Naruto's shock, her right hand started to glow with a green energy and the wounds began to heal right in front of his eyes.

"I've had worse" she stated simply, flexing her shoulder and elbow slightly.

"So you're a medical ninja?" Naruto asked; his question rhetoric. The girl merely smiled her response, before once again delving into the kunai holders at her legs.

"You can't use the same trick twice!" he warned, readying himself for another batch of clones.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he shouted, the very second the girl threw another round of shuriken. But this time her arms jerked with incredible speed and Naruto could only watch as over half of his clones disappeared as fast as they had been created. Even more disturbingly however, was the fact that one of the shuriken had flashed past his face almost too fast to see.

He looked over at the girl, who seemed annoyed that her throw had missed.

"Neither can you" the girl replied, choosing to make a close range attack this time. Her movements were jerky, but both incredibly fast and unpredictable and she had destroyed two clones with a kunai in each hand before Naruto could react.

Interestingly though, she seemed to flinch in pain with every movement she made.

Two more clones threw themselves at the girl, ducking a wild swing but missing their punched attacks due to the unpredicatable movements of the Lightning kunoichi. Both of their expressions suddenly turned to shock before they exploded out of existence as the girl let each kunai fly into the head and back of each respective clone.

Her closest opponents defeated, the Lightning shinobi stopped for a moment to reassess the situation as a look of pain again fell across her face.

Seeing his chance, the blonde sent all but one of his remaining clones at the twitching girl's feet, first knocking her off balance and then sending her into the air. The last copy met the girl in the air and attacked with a flurry of punches.

Desperate, the defending kunoichi managed to block the first few blows but the continuous pain was beginning to take its toll on her body and her movements slowed enough to let the blonde within her guard, sending her flying towards the ground where she was met by the clones that had been left on the floor.

When she hit the ground again, it was with a painful sounding crunch, and though her muscles seemed to still be contracting randomly she was obviously unconscious.

"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto" Shikamaru declared, before speaking softly into the mike and asking for a medical team to take the unconscious body of the girl from the arena.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_That was blantantly not the one who caused those deaths"_ Sho thought to himself, watching the victorious blonde set off to rejoin his other two team mates.

He looked over to his left at the remaining Lightning ninja. Both were male, but one seemed a lot more concerned about the condition of the girl who was being taken away. Acting on a hunch, he examined the indifferent shinobi slightly more closely.

The boy seemed tall and even though he was still shorter than Sho by quite some distance, that was to be expected. Similar to the girl who had just been defeated, he was also wearing a shirt that exposed all of his arms and a pair of shorts. However aside from the colour difference of the clothes and his close cut iron grey hair, it was the arms that drew the most attention, each of which were wrapped up in what seemed like bandages, all the way from each bicep and down to the hands.

The procrastination of the tall Rock shinobi was cut short however by the announcement of the second match.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Kajishima Makaji vs Yabuki Reaji" Shikamaru called out, looking up at the balconies above.

Caught up slightly in thinking of what to say to Naruto when he finally reached her, Hinata caught some movement off to her right and managed to catch sight of the lone Grass shinobi vaulting over the edge and landing lithely on the ground below.

His opponent, she saw, was a Sand shinobi who had chosen to walk down the staircase on the opposite side. She turned back to the approaching Naruto.

"Congratulations!" she praised, beaming at the similarly grinning blonde.

"I was pretty good huh?" he asked cheekily, getting a shy nod from the girl. It ws times like this, Hinata told herself, that she wished she could just do something impulsive, like hug him, instead of just standing there staring at him like a fool.

"Uhh, Hinata, you're gonna miss the fight" Naruto warned the slightly spaced out girl.

"_I was doing it again, wasn't I?"_ she realised, scolding herself before turning to watch the fight that had already broken out.

From the initial blows traded between the two, it seemed that the Sand ninja was also some sort of a ranged type, able to keep opponents at a distance. Demonstrating skilled use of not only the conventional thrown weapons like kunai and shuriken with one hand, the Suna shinobi was also constantly spinning three weights connected to a separate piece of cord, using it to deflect the occasional attacks made by the Grass shinobi.

"What is that?" Naruto asked of the indigo haired girl beside him.

"It's a bolas… I think…" Hinata ventured, watching the spinning weights knock aside another volley of kunai.

"What does it-" Naruto began, before as quick as a flash, the weapon was released and sent scything across the room.

The entire room held its breath as the missile barely missed the head of the ducking Grass ninja and flew into the back wall, ebedding itself totally within the stonework and sending deep cracks along its surface.

"T-The cords are designed to hit the target, a-and then the weights wrap the cord around it" Hinata explained.

"If that thing got anywhere near your head…" Naruto considered, imagining the three heavy weights wrapping themselves around a skull.

"You'd be dead" Hanabi finished his sentence, her concentration staying with the fight down below.

Annoyed that his attack had missed, the Sand shinobi drew another bolas from the pouch at his back and began swinging again, though he was otherwise motionless.

The two shinobi seemed to be sizing each other up for a moment.

With no foliage or plant life to manipulate in the barren room, the Grass ninja knew he was at a disadvantage. However, he did still have…

The Kusa shinobi dropped his hand into one of his own pouches and came out holding something within his fist.

Neither person wanting his opponent to regain any more time, both resumed their attacks at the exact same time, though now the Grass shinobi seemed to be trying to close in on his Sand opponent.

"_I don't think so!"_ the Sand ninja thought to himself, attempting to force the Grass shinobi off to one side with a few well placed kunai.

But as the Grass shinobi twisted out of the way, he threw his own attack back, hiding the throw with his body.

"_Don't underestimate me!"_ the Sand ninja raged, swinging his bolas upwards to deflect the oncoming kunai.

It wasn't until his weighted weapon hit the approaching attack that the Suna ninja realised the kunai was carrying a small pellet in the ring.

Which proceded to go off right in the unsuspecting shinobi's face.

"Ahh!" he screamed, leaping backwards and throwing as many shuriken as he could with his free hand in order to buy himself some time.

Opening his eyes, he was shocked to find the Grass ninja merely staring at him intently.

"What the…" he breathed, a wave of dizziness hitting him. Hard.

Staggering forward as his vision blurred, the Suna ninja tried to throw another kunai but it flew wildly off target as his bolas suddenly whipped uncontrollably past his face. It was all over, and he knew it, dropping the weighted weapon carefully to the floor with a distinctive crunch.

"The poison messes with the fluid in your inner ear, preventing you from balancing" the Grass shinobi informed his swaying opponent, suddenly directly behind him.

The Sand shinobi felt an arm around his middle and then something cold press against his throat. He closed his eyes to stop the spinning, and carefully opened his mouth, making sure not to make any sudden movements.

"I give up" he managed to croak out, sighing with relief as the pressure left his neck.

"Winner: Yabuki Reaji" Shikamaru announced as he watched the Sand ninja finally fall on his butt, considering whether he should call for another medical team.

"Don't worry, the effects wear off after a few minutes" he heard the Grass shinobi inform his defeated opponent, before he rejoined the rest of the ninja up on the balcony above.

"_I guess not"_ Shikamaru thought to himself, watching the deafeated ninja's team mate lift him to his feet and escort him back up to the balcony.

As he whispered into his mike, the entire room's attention fell back onto the screen in the far corner of the room, which was once again flashing through names.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Nakano Kenta vs Ashida Atsuo" the board proclaimed, the dark haired proctor remaining silent. The combatants could read their own names, he figured.

In a flash, both of the male shinobi had materialised down into the fighting area.

"_This could be him"_ Sho told himself, looking down at the bandaged Lightning ninja. On closer inspection, something seemed a little off. Was it him, or was he giving the Rain ninja opposite him a little too intense of a stare?

"What are you staring at me like that for, freak?" the Ame ninja sneered at the grey haired boy.

His opponent merely blinked owlishly and tilted his head slightly.

"Begin" Shikamaru motioned.

The two ninja blurred instantly, meeting in the centre of the room.

"_He's moving like the girl did against that blonde"_ Sho thought to himself.

"That guy's moving like my opponent!" Naruto exclaimed to the indigo haired girl beside him. She merely nodded.

The movements had also not gone unnoticed by the fighting Rain ninja.

"_Idiot, using someone else's moves. All I have to do is last, he'll fall apart"_ he told himself, ducking under a powerful blow and striking out with a quick uppercut.

A few moments later, and a number of blows, the two of them broke apart, each sizing up his respective opponent.

"What, tired already?" the Rain ninja asked with a smirk.

His adversary's response was only to rejoin the fight, only this time showing a little more savagery.

The Rain ninja raised his own game in response, staying with the ever more wild eyed ninja punch for punch and kick for kick.

He sidestepped away from a blow and then threw a kick, only to have it blocked and countered. Countering himself, he drew and launched a weapon while still in mid air, using the momentum of both arms and legs to roll and swipe at the legs of the Lightning ninja above him.

For the Ame ninja, it was exhilarating. But something did seem wrong.

"_He's lasted twice as long as that girl did and is still moving the same"_ he realised, while a swipe passed so close to his face that the wind it created moved the sweat on his forehead.

Shifting slightly, he recoginsed that the next punch had to be blocked, but as his arm made contact a jolt ran through his body, akin to a static electricity shock. It was all he could do to jump back a little, putting some space between him and his opponent.

"_Right, time to use that"_ he told himself, watching the Lightning ninja opposite him carefully as he channelled chakra to his fingertips.

It was then he realised that the bandages on the Kumo-nin's arms were beginning to char. But that wasn't the scariest thing.

The slightly odd look his opponent had been giving at the start was now replaced by a full on, open eyed, grey stare. And a smile.

"His skin… it's reddening… is it burning too?" Hinata asked quietly, to no-one in particular.

"If it is, how can he take the pain?" Naruto responded similarly quietly, the oppressive air of the standoff affecting even his personality.

When the Lightning ninja blurred for the second time in the fight, the combination of the surprise and the speed almost ended the Rain ninja's fight right there. Only instinctive reactions, and the feeling that he was now fighting for his life, managed to galvanise the boy in time.

Invisible wires of chakra materialised at his fingertips, and as he barely dodged the Lightning-nin he pulled them across the exposed arm of the Lightning ninja, using pure friction rather than any cutting power the wires possesssed to bite into the arm of the attacking ninja.

However to his horror, though the chakra wires cut deeply into the reddened skin of the Kumo shinobi, rather than incapacitate his opponent all it achieved was to bring his adversary back around to face him.

"_Shit!"_ he cursed inwardly, bracing himself for a punch that never came.

When the Lightning ninja placed his free hand firmly on the side of his face, the Rain shinobi spent a split second wondering what was going on.

And then his whole world went white, as the entire store of electricity that had been built up in the Kumo-nin's right arm discharged itself.

He went limp, only held up by the Lightning ninja.

But rather than let his now unconscious and most certainly defeated opponent drop to the floor the crazed ninja kept his hand on the side of the Rain ninja's skull, gripping it tightly and pumping even more energy down his scarlet right arm.

He watched with every sign of enjoyment and interest as the body twitched.

"Atsuo!" two voices called out from up on the balcony.

"Stop!" Shikamaru called out, his shadow already by the Lightning ninja's feet.

As his hand was forced off the blackened side of the Rain ninja's face by the invisible force, the Kumo-nin flashed a look of pure hatred at the lazy boy responsible.

To Shikamaru's surprise, that look then shifted to one of disappointment, exactly as if he had been stopped from playing with a toy.

"_That is __definitely__ the guy"_ Sho thought, still shocked depite the fact he had been one of the only ones in the room who had an idea of what would happen. His gaze travelled over the slumped body of the Rain ninja as four white-coated people burst into the room.

The small elecrical shock that the Lightning ninja had caused part way through the fight had made him believe his assumptions were right, but it was the blackened area of skin on the Rain shinobi's face that confirmed them. Had the proctor not stepped in to stop him, the Lightning-nin would have probably reduced his opponent to the same faceless state that Sho had found in the forest.

Across the room, the three Leaf ninja were focusing more on the Lightning shinobi himself.

"How did he do that?" Naruto asked, his eyes flickering between the downed ninja being taken away and the standing ninja still being held.

Both Hyuuga sisters had activated their Byakugan's during the fight, but each of them were still trying to process the information they had gathered.

"He charges chakra in his arms, and converts it all to electricity" Hanabi said, speaking first. Naruto nodded in response, and then looked at Hinata to see if she would make a contribution.

"I-I think his arms were burning from the energy of the electricity" Hinata put in, her fingers stirring around each other. She looked uncomfortable. The Lightning ninja had been released by Shikamaru, and was now being led away to get the extensive burns on his arms healed. Worryingly to the indigo haired girl, the cut on his arm seemed to have been cauterised by the heat of his own technique.

She briefly heard Shikamaru disclose the name of the winning ninja to the room. Nakano Kenta. She hoped none of the three of them would be required to fight him.

"B-But that means the amount he charged must have been massive, m-more than he should be able to take before pain stops him" she continued, trying to focus again.

"Hmm… Yeah…" Naruto said unsurely, wanting to put his two cents in.

"At least we know how the actual damage is done" Hanabi stated confidently.

"We do?" Naruto asked, surprised.

Hanabi gave him a blank look and stayed silent, not trusting herself not to insult the blonde. Hinata took up the explanation.

"Er… We know he charges his arms with a huge amount of electricity, e-even though we don't know how he does it. Right?" she asked, a small smile on her face as she finally managed to stop her fingers dancing. At least for the moment.

"Uh-huh…" he agreed.

"Electricity always follows the path of least resistance towards the ground, so-"

"Wait, what?" Naruto interrupted.

"It's why electricity travels through metal better than rock" Hanabi supplied. Naruto seemed to accept this and allowed Hinata to continue.

"Er… so when he touched his opponent, a-all of the electricity stored up went through him" Hinata finished.

"So why didn't it go through his own body?" Naruto questioned.

"M-Maybe because he's always adding to the electricity, s-so it can't go back the other way" the lavender eyed girl suggested.

"Or he could plug it up with chakra" Hanabi posed.

Naruto nodded slowly, the image of the shocked boy running through his head. Hinata was right, the Lightning ninja had to store ungodly amounts of energy in his arm in order to burn the skin of his opponent black when it was eventually released.

Their conversation was interrupted by the distinctive bleeping sound of the electrical screen, deciding which two would be up next.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Murakami Mihoto vs Fukuda Hidoki"

"Good luck" Sho murmured, the heavy atmosphere between the three of them that had not abated affecting his usually positive attitude.

Eri merely gave a nod.

"Thanks" she replied curtly, making her way to the staircase.

On the other side of the room Naruto spied the movement of one of the twins and wondered if it was the one he had been speaking to the day before.

"Should have got her name…" he murmured to himself, almost losing himself in thought before Hinata spoke up next to him.

"N-Naruto-kun? Did you say something?" she asked quietly. He seemed to consider this for a moment, and Hinata found herself wondering what he was thinking.

"I kinda ran into one of those two after we took you to the hospital" he told her.

"But I promise I'll tell ya about it later… I just don't think we want to miss this" he promised, turning back to lean on the railing.

"…Okay…" she agreed, unable to speculate on what it was he would tell her, but willing to wait.

But almost instantly a sudden thought hit the blonde and his eyes found the girl on the other side of Hinata.

"Hey Hanabi, what happened in the end with you and Konohamaru? What do you think of him?" he wondered aloud.

Hanabi frowned slightly.

"He's… weird…" she replied. Naruto waited for her to elaborate, but the girl stayed silent. He was about to enquire further when he noticed that the Rock kunoichi had finally made it to the fighting area.

"Start" Shikamaru intoned, before putting some distance between him and the two of them.

In complete contrast to the last fight, neither ninja moved. In fact, the Lightning ninja seemed somewhat relaxed.

"So what've ya got under that big coat baby? Got something to hide?" the Lightning ninja posed, a 'knowing' grin on his face.

"_Great. God's gift… blah blah blah"_ Mihoto thought to herself. Her already bad mood was not improving at all.

"Would you like to find out?" she replied, a smile passing onto her features.

With her back to both of her team mates, no one in the room could recognise the dangerous look that was in her eyes. However her tone of voice did give some early warning to the two other Rock ninja on the balcony.

"Heh, that's what I like in a girl" the Lightning ninja ran his hand slowly through his hair in an exaggerated gesture.

Unfortunately, Mihoto had to admit he wasn't unattractive. Though he was obviously an arrogant prick, which would make this all the easier.

"Well, if you want to see everything you'll want to get closer, right?" she invited, not moving an inch herself.

"Don't mind if I DO!" he replied, lauching himself forward as he said the last word. A kunai had appeared in his right hand, probably from a hidden place on his back as a result of his showy motion earlier.

Though her opponent was fast approaching across the concrete floor, Mihoto stayed stock still. At least, until the 'pretty boy' rushing her threw the knife in his hand from only ten metres away.

Then everything happened at once.

A small puff of smoke emanated from the targeted area of her body, and out from it another kunai emerged, striking the identical incoming missile and knocking it astray.

Simultaneously, the large coat seemed to ripple, and from out of each of the sleeves three rectangular pieces of paper flew out and towards the still approaching Kumo-nin.

When these tags discharged their payload, six sets of twin kunai attatched by rope burst into being and hurtled towards the now shocked Lightning ninja, threatening to ensnare him.

With a kunai in the other hand, he managed to slash through two ropes and then leapt into the air to avoid the rest.

"_Now the fight __is__ over"_ both Eri and Sho thought simultaneously.

And sure enough, as the stationary auburn haired twin lifted her arms, another set of tags swept out of her billowing coat and released the same attack.

Both airborne and unable to change direction the Kumo shinobi felt the thick ropes wrap around his body as the kunai sped through the air, orbiting him.

He fell to the floor with a thud; both his arms and legs trussed, and now his back bruised. He desperately wanted to swear, but found that the air had also been knocked out of his lungs by the fall.

Gasping slightly for breath, he suddenly noticed something fluttering past his face, which then settled on his forehead.

"In case you're wondering, that's an explosive tag" he heard a female voice inform him helpfully.

"I give up?" he tried, swallowing. If she chose to detonate it, he knew there was absolutely nothing the proctor could do.

Fortunately for him, that was something that this particular girl would never do.

"Good choice" she replied, bending down and peeling the tag from his brow. The large portion of the room that had been holding its breath all finally released it.

"The winner is Murakami Mihoto" Shikamaru declared, allowing the girl to make her way back to the balcony above.

"So that's what that was…" Hinata murmured. She caught the looks of both her sister and the blonde and tried to explain her words.

"W-When I looked at her with the Byakugan before the exam; i-it looked like she had a massive amount of unmoving chakra" the indigo haired girl said. Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I remember that. I thought she might be dead" he shivered. Dead things were like ghosts, and he did not like ghosts.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun, we know what they are now. They're seals" Hinata reassured him with a blush, finding his childlike fear almost unbearably cute.

"Of course, ghosts aren't real right?" he agreed, looking embarrassed. Hinata only returned a warm and comforting smile, desperately fighting the urge to fiddle with her fingers or pull at her bangs.

Unfortuantely for Hinata the moment was unintentionally broken by Shikamaru as he announced the next two combatants. One thing she had to accept was that the blonde loved fighting, though admittedly doing it more than watching it, and it would steal his attention at moments like this.

"Takimoto Fujiko vs Itou Haruna" the dark haired proctor called, once again looking into the crowd of ever shrinking number of ninja.

It would be the first all female battle, Hinata realised, looking at the Sand and Rain kunoichi.

The Sand shinobi had some sort of small round metal shield and a double bladed short sword, each of which were currently hanging from her belt. Her clothes were loose, with her hair long and a dirty sandy colour.

Her opponent was the exact opposite. Wearing tightly fitting shorts and shirt, her hair was cut short and a pale green. Her weapon was possibly the most interesting thing though.

Two spherical metal weights, roughly the same size as a large apple or orange, were connected to each end of a long piece of what seemed like rope. The girl held onto the rope in two places, closer to a weight with her left hand, leading around her back, and then further from the other weight with her right. Each of the weights had largeish holes bored around the top, and Hinata found herself wondering what they were for.

"Is that a meteor hammer?" Hanabi asked her older sister, wanting her own suspicions confirmed.

"Mhmm" Hinata corroborated.

"What's a meteor hammer?" Naruto asked.

"Er…It's- oh wait, you'll be able to see" Hinata pointed as Shikamaru gave the go ahead to begin.

Drawing her sword and buckler, the Sand kunoichi began her charge, and as she did so the Rain kunoichi began to spin the weight in her left hand.

Once the first weight was up to an acceptable speed the second one in her right hand began to follow suit. However this time the swings were far longer and horizontal above her head, compared to the short, vertical swings of the other weight, creating an almost impenetrable wall of spinning metal in front of the Sand kunoichi who stopped suddenly, unsure of what to do.

The female Rain shinobi grinned and advanced slowly, forcing her opponent backwards as she struggled to find an opening.

Jumping forward suddenly, the swinging weight in the Ame-nin's right hand swung in it's orbit towards the face of the Sand girl, who fortunately had the presence of mind not to try and block the heavy weight with her shield, instead choosing to duck and roll towards the now unprotected right side.

But the Rain kunoichi had already read the move, and changing the trajectory of the right handed weight she made it swing behind her, kicking out ferociously as it travelled by her foot, causing it to shoot out towards the surprised girl from the Sand.

Timing the move to perfection, the Sand kunoichi used her buckler to push the incoming spherical weight to the side and rolled again, away from the weight, as she rose to her feet.

"_If I try to block it, or even deflect it even once it'll smash, or even break my wrist"_ the Sand girl told herself. This was not the way she had expected the fight to go.

"_I'll just have to look for an opening"_ she realised.

"Tch" was the only sound of annoyance the Rain ninja made as her attack missed, twisting her body to return the weight to her, the rope tightened across her back.

Shortening the distance between her right hand and the weight on the end of the rope, this time the Rain shinobi tried a different tactic, beginning to twist the right handed potion of the rope around her left and right arms, both creating a confusing pattern of images and giving herself a little slack rope on her left side as her left hand kept it's weight swinging.

"Whoa!" Naruto exclaimed, massively impressed.

"How does she stop the two from tangling up?" he wondered aloud, as the Ame-nin attacked again.

Suddenly releasing the various knots of rope, the right handed weight shot out again, this time aiming for the midriff of her opponent, who dodged by again utilising her shield to push aside the weight.

With a look of triumph, she then slashed upwards at the exposed rope with her double blade, meeting it just behind the weight.

To her horror, all her blow achieved was to send the weight slightly higher before it was eventually pulled back.

"_I suppose you weren't to know the rope is made of a very tough material, as well as being chakra strengthened"_ the Rain kunoichi conceded, allowing a small smirk to cross her concentrated visage.

Angered at the failure of her plan, as the weight returned to the twisting Rain ninja, the Sand kunoichi again tried something new.

"_Not good enough"_ the green haired girl thought to herself, bringing her left hand upwards and deflecting the kunai that had been thrown into her temporary blind spot.

Nevertheless, she was slightly impressed by the fact her opponent could draw and throw the weapon without her seeing. It was just unfortunate for her that she knew her own weaknesses so totally.

Returning to the horizontal swinging above her head, the Rain kunoichi jumped forwards again, swinging at the side of her opponent.

The swing too low to duck, the Sand ninja backflipped backwards to avoid the strike, landing on her hands before launching herself back to her feet again.

Once again swinging the weight behind her, the Ame-nin stamped out and sent the spherical projectile flying at her opponent for a third time.

Unfortunately, as the Sand kunoichi jumped backwards she judged the distance perfectly, this time catching the rope between the two blades of her short sword and twisting, pulling the Rain kunoichi towards her while keeping the right hand weight firmly trapped..

"_Shit!"_ the Ame-nin cursed inwardly as she came almost within range of the Suna girl's blade, pulled forward by the tight rope at her back.

"_I guess I have to do it"_ she realised.

With one half of her opponent's weapon trapped between the blades of her sword, the Sand kunoichi only had to time her strike right to take the other swinging weight out of the game.

Until said weapon burst into flame.

Utilising the bit of slack rope she had given herself on the left side, the Ame ninja threw the weapon forwards with her left hand at an impossible speed, aiming for the chest of the Sand girl.

Eyes widening in shock, the Suna kunoichi realised there was too little time to dodge, and raised her shield.

It didn't matter now that it might break; she had finally disarmed her opponent.

"_It's over"_ both girls thought simultaneously, just as the flaming weight smashed into the raised shield.

Until from out of the holes of the metal projectile, a burning fuel splashed onto the face of the Sand girl.

"AHH!" she screamed, blinded.

Dropping her sword and shield to the ground, the girl instinctively covered her face with her hands and long sleeves, unintentionally saving herself from far worse burns by dampening the flames.

Standing above her opponent, the Ame-nin had just started to draw a kunai when a voice rang out.

"The match is over!" Temari called from the balcony opposite the Leaf ninja. The other Sand ninja next to her who had also been defeated looked on in worry.

As the Rain shinobi looked over at Shikamaru, he confirmed it with a nod. In truth, he had been just about to call out as well. To be fair though, it was one of her village she was worried about. He spoke into the mike, requesting another team of medics before he announced the victor.

"The winner is Itou Haruna" Shikamaru announced, allowing the girl to return to the balcony as the medical team lifted the whimpering Sand girl carefully onto a stretcher, her face still in her hands.

Naruto turned to Hinata.

"I was not expecting that" he admitted, clearly impressed and slightly shaken in equal measure. Hinata nodded in agreement, worried about the injuries to the Sand kunoichi.

The blonde read the look on the lavender eyed girl's face.

"Don't worry Hinata, you're strong. It'll be fine. Like I said, we're gonna breeze this. All three of us" he assured her.

Her fears mollified slightly, the indigo haired girl smiled slightly at his confidence.

"Now who's up next?" he enquired, looking over at the electronic board that had just finished its run through of names.

"HYUUGA HANABI vs ISHIKAWA SHO" it read.

"Right" Naruto looked assertive.

"Who's that?" he asked, looking around.

Hinata silently pointed at the tall Rock ninja who had just raised his hand in acknowledgement to his two team mates, before leaping the railing.

"Oh…"

XXXXXXXXXX

Yeah, I cliffhangered it. So shoot me.

At the last count, this chapter was at about seven and a half thousand words. That's just counting the words in the story, mind you. That beats my previous longest chapter by one and a half thousand, even when you add in the author's notes bits.

That was five fights. Hope they were interesting cos they were fun to write. Let me know which was your favourite (if any), any views are welcome. Just keep it constructive I guess.

The last fight was inspired in a way by "Kill Bill" and Jackie Chan, among other things. If anyone wants to see (rather than read) an awesome meteor hammer fight, just stick "Gogo Yubari" into youtube. Or just "Meteor Hammer", that'll probably get you something too.

What else? Oh yeah… Kiba will definitely be in the next chapter. Admittedly after an upcoming exam (for me by the way).

On a personal note: Laith, I wrote you a reply but my computer decided to be unimaginably retarded and I lost the entire thing. Thought I'd let you know. I'll get back to ya soon. Stupid computers.

And with that, I'm gonna go.

Have a good one everyone.

Later.


	36. End of the Prelim’s and Kiba

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. I'm FREE! I needed to say that. My last exam was on Wednesday, and now it's officially summer (or at least the holidays).

Anyway… Wow, I got such varied reactions from the battles last chapter. Some people want Hanabi to win, others want Sho to win. In a similar difference of opinion, some people think Hanabi will take it and others think Sho will. We also had differences of opinion from various people over favourite fights. I'm quite pleased to be honest.

Anyway, enjoy.

Chapter 36: End of the Preliminary's and Kiba's Situation

Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly as he took in the sight of Hanabi's opponent.

The small brown haired girl was a little surprised when the blonde turned quickly with a confident grin on his face.

"Don't worry! The bigger they are the harder they fall right?" he encouraged her, whatever doubt that had crossed his features seemingly gone.

"Mm." she nodded calmly in reply. Strangely, Hanabi found the blue eyed boy's encouragement increased her confidence slightly.

Maybe this was what her sister and that Konohamaru boy were talking about when they said they admired him she told herself. She turned at the sound of her sister's voice.

"Good luck." Hinata offered.

Hanabi nodded again before confidently setting off for the stairs.

But as she passed the two Rain ninja standing a little further up the walkway the white eyed girl picked up a snippet of their conversation.

"-think she has a chance? She is a Hyuuga." the boy said to the girl who had just won. She snorted derisively, barely lowering her voice.

"No. You caught his name didn't you? Don't you know what his family can do?" she asked incredulously.

"And she's tiny, look at her-" the Ame kunoichi stopped suddenly as her team mate gestured towards the approaching girl.

Hanabi passed the two of them without a word, and though they thought she missed it, the pair of Rain shinobi shared a self-satisfied look.

Had they seen the brown haired girl's face, they might have been surprised.

"_Thanks,"_ Hanabi thought to herself, the ghost of a smile on her face.

"_Now I know there's something special to look out for."_ she thought, reaching the bottom of the stairs and giving the smug pair a neutral stare.

"_And I have a few surprises of my own."_ she reflected, allowing her gaze to shift from the pair of now uncomfortable ninja to her opponent.

XXXXXXXXXX

As her sister's back turned Hinata's expression grew a great deal more worried. Despite the small girl's calm expression the older indigo haired kunoichi had little idea of what her sister was actually feeling. In fact, the calmness her little sister was projecting only heightened the concern she felt.

"She'll be fine." Naruto assured her, reading her anxieties with a smile on his face.

"…B-But Shikamaru-san said he got past Temari-san…" she replied quietly, unconsciously fidgeting. Naruto nodded.

"Don't worry, she's strong." he insisted. Hinata felt her hopes rise, as they always did in his presence.

"_You've only been around her for a few days, and you're already so confident in her"_ she thought happily, wishing she could be the same. But try as she might, she couldn't silence the small voice of doubt in the back of her mind.

"How do you know?" she asked, silently requesting the blue eyed boy to eradicate the last of her fears.

His warm and genuine smile almost melted her heart.

"You're her sister, and you're strong. One of the strongest people I know. So she must be strong too." he reasoned.

Hinata found herself blushing at the compliment. And even though her level of confidence didn't allow her to quite believe she was actually one of the strongest people he knew, the combination of the compliment and Naruto's belief allowed her to watch the match without any preconceived ideas about the result.

"…Thank you…" she managed, the reddish tint still evident on her cheeks.

"It's true" he laughed as they both turned back towards the match. Naruto leant forward on the railings while Hinata remained upright, still fidgeting slightly, though more out of habit than actual nervousness.

XXXXXXXXXX

Though she was still annoyed at and worried about her sister, Mihoto wished she had said more to the tall brown haired boy before he had left for his fight. In fact, she wished she had talked to him after she had got back from talking to the blonde boy. But the unusual and uncomfortable atmosphere that had formed between the two twins had stopped the male member of the team from speaking, and he had resorted to taking his backup stance of trying not to get involved. He had obviously sensed that this argument went beyond any of the others they had had before, which admittedly it did.

Maybe that's why she had talked to the blonde, she considered. He knew nothing of her past, and surprisingly little of his own village's history as well.

"_History…"_ she mused, her mind tracing the various events that had brought them here.

"…_It's all in the past…"_ she finished, before almost laughing at the ridiculous obviousness of the thought.

"_Why can't you see that though?"_ she silently asked her sister, her thoughts sobering.

She mentally shook herself, telling herself to concentrate on what was in front of her. She almost laughed again.

"_That's my entire life story I guess."_ she considered, finally looking between her friend and his opponent.

XXXXXXXXXX

Shikamaru looked between the two before starting. The height difference between the two shinobi was almost criminal. Hanabi stood about two feet shorter than her opponent.

Despite that though, as well as the blatant age difference, the Rock ninja didn't seem to hold his opponent in any sort of disregard. The look he was giving the brown haired girl opposite him was that of detached acknowledgement, with the prospect of underestimation obviously not an issue.

It was this evident experience that the Rock ninja had, among other reasons, that the genius found himself interested in this foreign ninja.

In fact a good portion of his thoughts that hadn't been wrapped up in Temari's upcoming revenge had been focused on the enigma that was the team from the Land of Earth, and their lone male member in particular. If anything, the earlier fight with one of the two twins had only increased his interest in the three of them. But it was this guy who Shikamaru found himself returning to each time.

Of course, the first instance in which he had suspected that this boy was something strange was when he had gotten past Temari. That alone would make him interesting and incidentally place him at least at Chuunin rank, but on top of that, the lazy pineapple haired boy had learned via Chouji that Hanabi's opponent was about seventeen years old.

Wheels had stopped turning, and started spinning rapidly when he had heard that. Being the standard he was, had he purposefully ignored Chuunin exams? And if so, for how long? And if he had, had his team mates done it as well? And for what reason?

Unfortunately, these were questions that really couldn't be answered. The dark eyed boy only wished he could take a look at the mission completion files of the three Rock shinobi. That would tell him all he needed to know.

He actually wished he had known the name of the guy before now. Then he could have at least done some research.

Well, there were other things to get on with first. He had to stop himself from voicing the taxing nature of it all.

"Begin."

XXXXXXXXXX

Only those who were paying their absolute attention managed to catch Sho's sleight of hand as his right hand reached up to grab his hammer while his left drew and threw a triple round of shuriken towards his opponent, their launch initially concealed by the loose open jacket.

But Hanabi had already activated her Byakugan and saw through the attack, leaping backwards and watching the three spinning missiles thud into the ground before her. Looking upwards, she noticed the boy in front of her holding the hammer just above the head, effectively turning the heavy weapon into a pole. Breathing deeply, Hanabi lowered herself into the Jyuuken stance and raised her hands in preparation to attack.

"_I have to avoid those hands."_ Sho told himself, perfectly aware of the famous Hyuuga clan's doujutsu and their special brand of taijutsu. It was times like this he thanked his lucky stars for his upbringing.

Unfortunately, he didn't want to show his full hand this early. Though he had been chastised by both of his team mates for doing it before, this time he had made the conscious decision and though he was confident of victory, he had not made it because he underestimated his opponent. In fact, it was more the opposite, he respected his future opponents and didn't want to give anything away.

"_So I won't use my bloodline…yet."_ he reiterated.

The two ninja spent the briefest of moments looking at each other, before each of them launched themselves forwards.

Striking out with the flat of her palms, Hanabi suddenly realised why he had drawn his weapon so early as first her right hand was blocked and deflected, followed by her left one missing his body as he sidestepped away and lashed out with the weapon he had just blocked with.

Leaning back slightly, the leather bound tip of the weapon brushed some of her hair to the side as it made its progress. Hanabi had little time to consider that though, as the moment the weapon had passed she unleashed the energy she had stored in her spine and sprung forward, her hands once again striking out at the taller ninja's body.

Surprised at the ferocity of the little girl's strikes, Sho manoeuvred the head of the hammer to block the incoming left handed chakra powered strike then launched himself into the air to dodge the second, executing a sweeping roundhouse kick at the head of the Konoha kunoichi with a long right leg.

With little hope of blocking or parrying the powerful strike with Jyuuken without being dealt a shattering blow, Hanabi had to resort to dodging and ducked down, rolling forwards and ending up behind the landing Iwagakure shinobi.

Seizing an opportunity, the brown haired girl twisted herself and whipped out a palm towards the unprotected back of her opponent. However to her surprise, from underneath the arm of the Rock ninja the shaft of the hammer whipped out and batted her hand away, causing her to temporarily lose her balance.

Taking advantage of the situation, Sho turned quickly and executed a number of quick stabbing motions with the butt of the hammer that forced the unbalanced girl to stay that way, dodging his attacks and unable to retaliate.

He was understandably surprised then when suddenly the Leaf shinobi seemed to find her feet as she inadvertently stepped into one of the forms of Jyuuken in her attempts to dodge.

Her movements flowing now, Sho found that his next two jabs were dodged easily and then he was abruptly on the defensive again.

Collectively holding its breath, there was little to no noise from the crowd as the minute form of Hanabi forced the towering figure of Sho backwards across the room with each fluid striking movement almost too fast for the eye to follow.

"_The attacks are as fast as lightning, there's almost no opening."_ he told himself as his mind whirred through his options, glad that he was at least able to force her to keep her distance as he retreated due to the long staff-like end of the hammer.

Opposite him, Hanabi was getting slightly frustrated with the weapon in his hands. As yet, she had been totally unsuccessful in her attempts to close even one tenketsu on the Rock shinobi's body, and hadn't even managed to land one blow due to the annoying way he had adapted the use of the hammer.

Ducking under a jab from said weapon she aimed a two fingered Jyuuken strike at his upper arm, her eyes narrowing as he leaned away again, the butt of the hammer coming up and threatening to strike her wrist in an attempt to break it.

Catching the tip of the weapon in the palm of her hand, she had neither the time nor the strength to wrestle it from his grasp and so resorted to pushing on the metal shaft.

To her surprise, the push knocked her opponent off balance and Hanabi took immediate advantage, leaping forward and striking the Rock ninja in the right shoulder tenketsu, disabling his weapon arm as a loud crack coincided with her strike.

"Yes! She got him!" Naruto celebrated. But beside him Hinata shook her head slowly.

Not realising she had hit her opponent that hard, Hanabi's eyes widened as the shoulder she had just hit literally fractured right in front of her, before his entire right arm fell away in a shower of split rock.

"_Rock replacement."_ she cursed inwardly as she leapt into the air. Courtesy of her doujutsu, she had looked through her own body and saw the Iwa shinobi finally using the hammer for its intended purpose, swinging it towards her unprotected back and side.

The remnant of the replacement exploded into millions of pieces as the hammer impacted, small shards hitting the flying girl and giving her a number of painful, though superficial, cuts and bruises.

Landing lithely, the Hyuuga girl immediately jumped again to avoid the flurry of kunai her opponent had released in midair, releasing her own kunai as she did so to buy herself time to land.

Blocking the incoming projectiles with the shaft of his weapon, Sho made no other move towards the girl as she landed and only returned her subsequent intense veiny stare with a calm one of his own.

He gave her another nod of acknowledgement before once again throwing himself forward to attack the now heavily breathing girl before him, not giving her chance to rest.

Dropping back into Jyuuken position, Hanabi utilised the space she had to dodge the incoming short swing and then pushed aside the subsequent jab at her face, moving forward herself in an attempt to get inside the reach of her far larger opponent.

Sho stepped back in response, calmly reading her attempt and countering it with a swing at the kunoichi's midriff.

Stepping back herself, Hanabi tried to conserve some energy, realising that he was able to read her attacks while she was on the offensive.

Trying not to let her rest Sho jabbed forward again and again as she looked for an opening while she dodged nimbly away from the large boy's attacks.

Losing patience with the agile girl Sho charged forwards, swinging the hammer wildly.

Smiling inwardly, Hanabi read the move, turning and back flipping away from the advancing real Sho and over the cumbersome rock clone. She then struck powerfully down at its head, causing the rest of the copy to collapse into rubble at her feet as she landed, and then regarded Sho with her level gaze, masking her amazement that he could create and replace himself with a clone that quickly.

"_That's what I get for trying to fool the Byakugan."_ he conceded inwardly. Though it had worked against higher ranked shinobi he reminded himself.

Jumping back into battle again, Hanabi found the bruises she had been receiving since the beginning of the battle were beginning to affect her strikes. The end of the hammer may have been covered in leather but the hardness of the strikes and the repetition was starting to tell to the point where, despite herself, she was trying to avoid the hits.

Finally getting the girl on the defensive through sheer attrition, Sho pressed his advantage. Striking out at the smaller girl, her agility finally faltered and Sho lashed out quickly, jabbing at her shoulder.

To his astonishment, the small girl pulled off an incredible feat of alertness and swivelled from the blow, lashing out with an attack of her own and forcing the tall boy to recoil away.

However, Sho was not willing to give up the initiative so easily. Shifting his grip on his hammer, and allowing the shaft to slip through his hand until it reached the end, he swung the weapon in his right hand towards the now slightly unbalanced kunoichi's neck area, leaving her no option but to duck and face the left footed kick the brown haired boy had planned.

Or so he thought.

Realising the desperate nature of her situation, and identifying this opportunity as her only chance, Hanabi drew on all the training she had recently done with her father and concentrated her chakra as she began to spin, praying her gamble would work.

On the balcony with her own Byakugan activated, Hinata prayed too.

Recognising that his opponent was not going to duck, Sho braced himself for the horrible impact of metal on bone, not expecting what was to come.

"Kaiten!" Hanabi shouted as chakra burst from her body and stopped the swinging weapon mere centimetres from her neck.

Time seemed to slow for the Iwa-nin, his eyes widening as the girl began to spin faster and throw out more chakra from her petite body. He gasped as his weapon was torn from his grasp, the force of his swing rebounding off the expanding dome of chakra the Hyuuga girl was projecting.

Quickly leaping backwards to avoid the encroaching attack, Sho hardly noticed his weapon spin away and smash through one of the balconies above, barely missing the two Rain shinobi as it showered them in splinters and buried itself head first deeply into the wall.

Weapon less and with a jarring sensation all the way along his right arm, Sho had little time to think before the small Konoha girl dismissed the dome of chakra around her and followed up on her advantage.

Striking out with each hand at the glowing parts of Sho's body, she continued to press the tall boy backward as he barely managed to escape; knowing that trying to block the Jyuuken powered blows would only result in his eventual incapacitation.

He had expected a great deal from the young Hyuuga girl, but this? His mind was in overdrive, but each thought came up with the same conclusion:

"_I have to use It."_ he thought to himself, concentrating.

Still moving fluidly through her strokes, Hanabi stopped mid-flow and back flipped away as her enhanced eyes caught her opponent suddenly beginning to concentrate chakra throughout his entire body.

His stance had changed too. He had spread himself out a little more and was tapping one heel on the ground, almost as sort of nervous reaction. His eyes told a different story though.

"_This is it."_ the brown haired girl told herself, thinking back to the two Rain ninja. She might not know what it was that was going to happen, but she was prepared for something surprising.

Once again the two ninja stood opposite each other, in a still tableau, save for the rapid movements of the tall boy's foot.

Until, mid-tap, the brown haired boy launched himself forward.

Not quite expecting her opponent's sudden move, Hanabi moved very little herself, planting her feet and readying herself to meet the charge of the tall Iwa-nin. But to her surprise he did not cut his speed as he approached and merely threw a right handed punch towards her face.

Neatly dodging the blow, she sent her own palm towards Sho's exposed midriff.

But as his chakra flared her hand passed straight through and before her very eyes the chakra that had so briefly flared went muted and shadowy, almost as if it was not there.

Hanabi had little time to worry about that though because, as their bodies continued to pass through each other, he had twisted around and the fist that she had so recently dodged was now swinging towards the back of her head.

Continuing the momentum that her own strike had generated, the small girl rolled forward and ducked under the blow, her Byakugan scanning the fist and deciding that the chakra it had contained was of the type she had originally been fighting.

"_That was solid?"_ she asked herself, hand springing back towards the outstretched fist in an attempt to catch it between her feet.

But that too disappeared in front of her eyes just as she was about to make contact, and this time his left arm's chakra seemed to spring into life, swinging down toward her unprotected stomach.

Bringing her own hands down, Hanabi thrust her palms at the outstretched limb, aiming to hit the exposed tenketsu and gain leverage at the same time.

As the second limb evaporated from her sight, leaving his entire body seemingly incorporeal, Hanabi found herself sliding on her back away from the boy.

"No…" Hinata murmured, almost unable to watch her sister down below. True to character, one hand was in front of the indigo haired girl's mouth, but her other was now mimicking both of Naruto's as she gripped the railing in front of her in concern.

"_I need to end this quickly."_ Sho told himself, turning on his heel and charging as Hanabi pulled herself back onto her feet.

Somewhat expecting the surprise that brown haired boy had in store; the brown haired girl raised her hands in defence and concentrated her vision as the tall boy leapt forwards and threw a number of missiles.

His body parallel to the ground Sho span himself in the air, aiming for the chest of the small girl. The missiles he had thrown were blocked by the kunoichi, and she even managed to direct one back, though it passed straight through him.

But the thrown weapons had done their job. Rooted to the spot, Hanabi saw him pass through her chest, his entire body intangible.

Until suddenly, when their chests were intertwined, his limbs seemed to spring to life.

From the right knee downwards and from the elbows to the fists, Sho's chakra reappeared, each body part aiming for a different spot on the small girl's body. Her world seemingly in slow motion, she still only had time to knock his incoming right arm down with a strike before she instinctively raised her other hand to protect her face from the knee about to strike it.

It was Sho's left fist, however, that made full contact with the shocked Konoha kunoichi. The accurate finishing blow to her left temple didn't even give her enough time to scream as Sho quickly reactivated his bloodline and allowed her to fly straight through him.

Watching from the balcony, Naruto grimaced at the sight of Hanabi's small body coming to a juddering halt across the floor. At the same time he heard a small sound from the girl next to him and felt a hand clench onto his, silently asking for support.

Now looking at the indigo haired girl, Naruto realised that she hadn't even been looking at him when her hand had found his. In fact, her gaze was still fixed on her prone younger sister while her hand shook slightly as it lay on top of his.

For once, the blonde boy couldn't think of a thing to say.

"The winner is: Ishikawa Sho." Shikamaru announced. He had already requested another team of medics.

But the words had barely left his mouth before both Hinata and Naruto had jumped the railing to join their unconscious team mate. The two ninja reached Hanabi seconds after the medical team and Hinata immediately questioned them.

"Is she going to be okay?" she asked breathlessly.

One of the medics raised his head and was about to tell her that compared to the injuries of some of the other examinees, including one who was currently fighting for his life, this girl had got off scot free.

That is, until he saw the look in the pale lavender eyes and realised the two girls were sisters. He smiled reassuringly.

"She's going to be fine." he comforted Hinata, eliciting a massive sigh of relief from the older girl.

XXXXXXXXXX

Having deactivated his family technique again and landed one handedly, Sho slowly pushed himself to his feet. He quickly checked that his opponent was being tended to by the medics and then tried to work out the feeling of wrongness that seemed to be permeating his mind.

Raising his arm he looked at a red welt that had formed in the area he had been struck by the Hyuuga girl.

"_She hit me."_ he thought distractedly, before a second thought suddenly hit him.

Concentrating his chakra, Sho tried to make the affected area of his arm incorporeal. His eyes widened as the attempt failed and directed more chakra to the affected area to no avail.

"_That's not good…"_ he thought slowly, his eyes catching a metallic glint from the wall away to his left. There was also an unfamiliar lightness to his back that took a while to pinpoint.

"_Ah!"_ he realised as he fished around behind his back. Taking a few quick steps forward before leaping up and onto the balcony above to retrieve his weapon, it was only now he actually recognised the damage it had done after it had been pulled from his hands.

Nodding amicably to the two Rain ninja as he pulled the hammer out through the rubble the wall had become, seemingly without effort, the Rock ninja absent mindedly reattached it to its strapping's on his back and then made his way over to the other balcony and his team, his mind still going over the fight.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_Interesting…"_ Shikamaru thought to himself, watching the tall shinobi rejoin his team mates. Unfortunately, there were still other things to attend to, and among those things was the last match.

The stretcher bearing the younger of the two Hyuuga sisters was already gone, and Hinata exchanged a quiet word with the blonde who nodded in response as they both returned to their positions above the fighting area.

Now that her sister's safety had been assured, Hinata seemed a great deal more relaxed, though still slightly concerned about her own possible match up. Beside her, the blonde had returned to his energetic persona, pleased that his young team mate was not hurt badly as well as itching to see the last match.

Looking around as the electric board whirred through the last of the names; Shikamaru could see that the only remaining examinees available for the last match were Hinata, the other twin from the Land of Earth and the last Rain ninja.

All the attention in the room was focused on one small corner of it.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hinata sagged slightly.

"Oh…" Naruto sighed.

Stepping away from her team mates, Eri allowed a ghost of a smile to graze her features. Not the pairing she had hoped, but still something.

"Back in a sec." she muttered, getting a 'sure thing' from the male member of the team and a slightly muted 'good luck' from her sister.

"They can't all be that strong can they?" the male Rain ninja asked his team mate.

"I don't know." she replied, looking up at the match up again.

'MURAKAMI ERI vs FUJIMORI YOHEI' it read.

"But you're going to have to go down there regardless." she finished, nudging him slightly.

A little further up the balcony, Hinata was torn between relief and disappointment.

Though she was slightly relieved that she didn't have to fight, the indigo haired girl had wanted to prove herself to Naruto, and herself, that the incident in the forest wouldn't be repeated. She had wanted…

"_I wanted him to cheer for __me__. To wish me luck and believe in __me__."_ She told herself forlornly. She knew it was pathetically self centred, but she couldn't describe the feeling when Naruto was actively rooting for her.

She was shaken out of her reverie by the sound of said blonde's voice.

"-worry Hinata, this just means you're through to the next exam right?" he enthused, a wide grin on his face that managed to spread a comfortable warmth across her entire body, as well as her cheeks.

XXXXXXXXXX

Standing opposite her opponent and in direct contrast to the blushing Konoha girl, Eri regarded the boy in front of her with a dispassionate gaze as the exam proctor checked everything was in order.

So Sho had taken longer than he needed to. Again. She honestly doubted his abilities sometimes.

"_Not that it seems to matter now."_ she thought to herself a little bitterly, letting her chakra seep out into the ground once again.

"_Can't they see its appropriate justice?"_ she asked herself for the hundredth time.

"_Still, I have a lot of work to do before then. Whether they help or not."_ she told herself, increasing the flow of chakra out of her body as she observed the proctor seem to decide everything was ready and opened his mouth to begin the match.

Eri smiled inwardly.

The word 'start' was followed almost instantaneously by the sound of fracturing rock, and as he shifted his gaze from the cold green eyes of his opponent upwards to the source of the noise, the Rain ninja almost knew it was too late.

He only managed to raise his arms to protect his head before he was buried in the falling rubble from the ceiling above.

The match had lasted barely more than a second.

"Winner: Murakami Eri." Shikamaru stated slowly, the surprise evident even in his bored tone. The winner herself was already moving back toward the stairs though, unfazed even as the main doors into the arena burst open and yet another set of medics ran through.

Up on the balcony Hinata was already scanning the room with her doujutsu in an attempt to answer the question Naruto had just put to her: how had she done it?

It took her about a minute or so, but the lavender eyed girl finally found the faint and fading line of chakra that ran from where the auburn haired girl had been standing, up the wall and then eventually to a large spot on the ceiling where the collapse had started.

Relaying the information to the blonde next to her, Hinata found herself impressed at the situational awareness and use of the environment that the second twin had demonstrated.

But there was one thing that definitely differentiated between the two girls now. Their compassion.

And when she informed Naruto of this, she found that he thought the same.

"Yeah…" he agreed.

"That first girl allowed her opponent to get away with no injuries at all. But her twin buried her opponent under a load of rock." He surmised. But their conversation jogged his memory, reminding him of what he wanted to tell the indigo haired girl earlier. The blonde turned back from the medics carefully lifting the broken Rain ninja and towards the Hyuuga beside him.

"Actually do you remember-" he began, before the voice of the Hokage called them all down.

The blue eyed boy flashed the pigtailed woman a dirty look before returning to the inquisitive girl in front of him.

"Y'know I talked to one of those girls?" he asked. Hinata nodded.

"I think it might have been the first one" he told her, before noting the black look he was getting from the Godaime.

"But I'll tell you about it all later" he said quickly, grabbing her hand and leading her away fearfully.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade looked over the line of ninja assorted before her. There were two Konoha ninja, a trio of Iwagakure shinobi and one each from the Cloud, Rain and Grass villages.

It was an interesting bunch.

The golden eyed woman cleared her throat and began her speech.

"Congratulations! Those who are standing here have progressed to the final stage of the Chuunin exam." she paused for a moment and then continued.

"The final part of the exam will be a knockout tournament that will start in two weeks. The delay will be for two reasons. The first is that your matches will be watched by all the other countries and this time will be required for their arrival. The second reason for the extra time is to give you all time to prepare. You have now seen each other fight, to a greater or lesser degree. To reflect this..." the blonde woman motioned for Shikamaru, who appeared with a small box in his hand.

She had not given any time so far for questions, and her fierce golden gaze scanned the line, keeping them silent as the lazy Chuunin shuffled forward.

"…you will all find out who your next opponent will be now, to give you chance to fully prepare against them." she motioned again and Shikamaru held out the box to Naruto on the end of the line.

"Seven!" he called out, flourishing his paper.

"One." Hinata said softly, praying that her number meant she was on the other side of the draw to the blue eyed boy next to her.

"Six." the Rain kunoichi with the meteor hammer read out.

"Three." the Cloud ninja stated flatly, his grey eyes expressionless.

"Two!" the Grass shinobi called out.

"Five." Mihoto announced.

"Four." Sho declared confidently.

"Eight." Eri read out.

Tsunade nodded to Shikamaru, who withdrew. Anko stepped forward and passed the newly created tournament roster to the village leader, who held it out for all to see.

Match One: Hyuuga Hinata (Leaf) vs Yabuki Reaji (Grass).

Match Two: Nakano Kenta (Cloud) vs Ishikawa Sho (Rock).

Match Three: Murakami Mihoto (Rock) vs Itou Haruna (Rain).

Match Four: Uzumaki Naruto (Leaf) vs Murakami Eri (Rock).

Semi Final One: Winner of Match One vs Winner of Match Two.

Semi Final Two: Winner of Match Three vs Winner of Match Four.

Final: Winner of Semi Final One vs Winner of Semi Final Two.

"_I'm going to be fighting that Grass-nin again."_ Hinata thought to herself. It seemed the fact that she hadn't fought in the preliminaries would be barely any advantage at all.

Despite the fact he had been slightly distracted; the fact that he had been paired against the slightly unhinged Cloud had managed to get through loud and clear. Beyond that though, he had also noted that the following round he could well be placed against the other Hyuuga.

It was looking like these next two weeks would need to be spent doing more than just resting.

For her part, Mihoto was less worried about her match than her sister's. A fight between the Fourth Hokage's lookalike and Eri was not likely to end well, and Mihoto did not like the glint in the eye her sister had gained at finding out who her first match would be against.

Her blonde adversary was also fired up. But there were still a number of doubts in the back of his mind, one of the highest among those being the conversation he had had with his new opponent's sister.

What overrode those doubts was the memory of the look of hatred he had been given by his new opponent. It had felt so much like the stares he had been given, and in some places still continued to get, by the villagers for so much of his life that it was almost scary.

It was a stare that hated him for what he was rather than actually who he was, and even these days, Naruto still dealt with hatred towards him in the same way.

He would have to prove himself, and prove that whatever had happened in the past he was his own person. Even if he had a demon inside him or if he idolised the Fourth Hokage, he was still Uzumaki Naruto. Not some faceless hate figure.

And he would prove that to everyone.

Wrapped up in those thoughts, the blonde boy managed to miss Tsunade's call that dismissed them, only focusing as a small voice said his name. He turned towards the voice.

"Sorry Hinata, what?" he asked.

"Er… We can go now. I think." she informed him. He looked around and noticed the other examinees leaving.

"Oh, right. Let go!" he announced. Hinata nodded shyly in response as he led the way.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So we've got two weeks to prepare huh?" Naruto asked rhetorically as they made their way down the passageway that led under training area forty four.

"We've got some serious training to do then!" he enthused, looking to Hinata to get her reaction.

The indigo haired girl merely nodded and smiled, the prospect of spending yet more time with the blue eyed boy filling her with an odd mixture of pleasurable warmth and a knot of nervousness.

Beside her, at his own mention of training, Naruto's memory threw up something he had asked during the second exam and being himself, he immediately voiced it.

"Hey Hinata, could you show me some of those first aid techniques you used?" he asked. The girl looked a little surprised.

"…Now?" she said eventually. The blonde smiled good-naturedly.

"Sure, we should start as soon as possible right?" he paused as the girl beside him seemed torn and wondered what she was thinking.

"…Well… I'd love to, but…" Naruto waited for her continue, resisting his natural urge to press her for answers.

"…I should go see Hanabi-imouto in the hospital." she finished, upset that she couldn't spend the rest of the day with the boy. Fortunately, he understood.

"Sure! We'll train together tomorrow twice as hard!" he enthused, before giving her an appraising look.

"Y'know, you're a good sister." He told her, thinking of the small conversation the two of them had had in the woods. To the blonde boy, it seemed that Hinata had everyone's interests at heart.

But to the lavender eyed girl, the praise was slightly embarrassing.

"I'm not that great." she mumbled. To her, it was just the way she was. She didn't feel she could take credit for that.

She looked up at the boy beside her, taking note of his focused eyes, her hair covering her face to conceal her blush.

"…Are you going to train now? Alone?" she wondered. Naruto shrugged.

"Yeah, gotta use every hour of the day!" he noticed the look in her eyes and continued quickly.

"But don't worry, I'm used to it. Ero-sennin ain't the most one-to-one of teachers." he joked, adding _"he's always too busy peeking"_ within his own mind.

Unfortunately, to Hinata, this explanation came under the heading of 'Naruto-kun hiding his feelings'. And in fact, she was pretty much on the money. Though Naruto acted upbeat as they made their way back to the village, as they parted ways on Konoha's main street Naruto had to admit that the mere loss of the nervous girl's presence made him feel a great deal lonelier.

On top of that problem, the fading need for bravado finally allowed many of the thoughts that had come up during the second test to at last begin to resurface.

Of course, Naruto thought to himself, that was one of the good results of really hard training. If you worked hard enough, you didn't even dream.

XXXXXXXXXX

A long, long way outside Konoha, someone else was also working very hard.

There was very little evidence of this work though, and it was being kept this way since the two of them, despite their assets, had little to no idea of where they actually were.

Even reaching this stage had been hard for the two of them though. In fact, that last few things Kiba remembered while he was still with his two other human team mates was falling, being hit incredibly hard on the head by something, and then a large explosion.

After that, he had been woken up at the side of a river by his furry companion and while tending to other business, had slowly pieced together what had happened.

The first thing he had found, but had also been told about by Akamaru, was that the two of them had been wrapped almost head to toe in strong, and yet buoyant, tether and it was this substance that had apparently allowed them to travel downriver to such a degree that the terrain that they now occupied was not just different from the surroundings they had been in, but completely unrecognisable.

After the two of them had discussed the issue, of course after having agreed neither of them knew where they were, they had also both agreed that whatever Kakashi had been doing down the sides of the crevasse, it had probably involved the bindings that had allowed them to travel downriver. After all, they had been planning to capture the spy, not kill them.

However, that whole debate had lasted all of two minutes once Kiba had realised the actual predicament they were in.

For a start that other business had been the fact that one of Akamaru's legs had been broken by the fall and in fact that had created a small argument once Kiba had realised it, chastising his friend for not mentioning it sooner.

Once a rudimentary splint had been created, they had then run into their second immediate problem.

Kiba couldn't use chakra properly.

It had taken them a while to work out the probable cause, but once the link between the cut on his cheek that the brown haired boy had gained from the animated corpse and the comments of the glasses freak had been made, everything became a lot clearer.

He only had to hope that it was a debilitating poison at most, rather than a fatal one.

Since that first day of piecing everything together, it had then become about survival. Akamaru was nowhere near fit enough to carry the animalistic boy, and since the white haired dog had grown so much over the years Kiba was blatantly unable to carry his friend. Compounding the problem was the fact that even had they been able to move, they had little idea of where they were, or how far they had travelled before waking.

Staying by the river, the two of them had quickly reached the point where they had run out of the food they had brought with them and though they were starting to live off what food they could find in the area, with the river nearby, this was not overly difficult.

By now, the main problem on both of their minds was: Would they be found?

XXXXXXXXXX

Another seven thousand worder. I'm pleased with the fight, I think. Sorry about the delay, moved out of uni and am now packing to go to America for two weeks. Yes, unfortunately that also means there will be at least a two week break.

I you haven't already looked it over and are just looking for something else to read in the meantime, I'd suggest any of the author's in my favourites. My favourite story in there? L:O:V:E, by the Dreamers of Dreams. I know I've plugged it before but hey, it's good stuff.

Gonna go now. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. See ya in two weeks (ish).

Later.


	37. Research and Training

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. Hey there, I believe I said something about two weeks or so until the next chapter… three months later… I'm really sorry, life decided to get busy. To be honest though I had one of the best summers ever, I'm just sorry I haven't updated this for so long. But I didn't forget about this fic, in fact I was still thinking of the odd plot idea or two (or a million…). And so here we are…

Oh, fluff warning at the end. Good stuff. Hehe.

Chapter 37: Research and Training

Walking down the busy main street of Konoha and away from the Hokage's tower, on another fine morning in the hidden village, Temari wore a grimace that let the entire world know that crossing her now would be a seriously bad idea.

For starters, the three teams she had taken to the Chuunin exam had failed to make it to the final stage, but that was nothing compared to the reasons one of those teams had failed. She just hoped that the ones who had survived had gained the experience that would help them succeed next time.

Making her way to the hospital, the blonde girl's thoughts were a million miles away from what they had been a few days ago.

XXXXXXXXXX

A long way outside of town and on her way to the training area that she and Naruto had agreed to meet at, Hinata was in a far better mood. However, she couldn't help but feel nervous that she would be spending the next two weeks in such close proximity to her temporary team-mate.

Even if it was only training to the blonde haired boy, for the shy Hyuuga girl just the chance to spend such a length of time with him was something special. If she could spend enough time around Naruto then maybe, Hinata hoped, she would begin to be able to relax around him and maybe even (though she blushed uncontrollably at the mere thought) tell him how she felt.

But amid such heady thoughts she had to focus, she told herself. There was a reason that she was undertaking this period of training and though she wanted to savour every moment with her current training partner that she could, Hinata knew that she would have to be productive over the next two weeks.

And it was with that resolution that Hinata entered the clearing, and found an already very crowded training area.

It was only now that Hinata realised how deep in thought she must have been on her walk as the noise of what looked like hundreds of fighting Naruto's seemed to suddenly assault her ears.

Unfortunately, due to the her timid nature and the mesmerising effect of so many determined blondes, the indigo haired girl found herself unable to speak up and announce her presence and it wasn't until one of the Naruto clones had defeated his counterpart and noticed the dark haired girl standing in the shadow of one of the trees that she finally gained some attention.

"Hey!" it greeted, running over to the startled girl before seemingly being struck by a thought.

"H-Hello." Hinata managed, gasping slightly as the clone dismissed itself. Her attention turned to the centre of the clearing as out of nowhere the entire melee became obscured by white smoke.

"Sorry Hinata, I started without you." a voice apologised through the smoke, quickly followed by the appearance of a grinning blonde.

"I-It's ok." She replied reassuringly, wondering how long he had been training. The sun had risen less than an hour ago and she found herself remembering the troubled look he had been wearing the day before as he had told her he would be training alone.

"How's Hanabi?" Naruto questioned, breaking into her thoughts and making the lavender eyed girl look up at the taller boy. She smiled reassuringly.

"S-She's fine. S-She was awake when I w-went to see her. F-Father was there too. She's back home now." She informed the concerned blonde.

In fact their father had been surprisingly calm considering Hanabi's defeat, though he had intimated that this result meant that the hospitalised girl needed more training. However, neither sister was sure of whether their father's calmness was due to their explanation of the strength of Hanabi's opponent or whether Hiashi had been worried about his daughter. Hinata hoped the latter.

Naruto smiled at the news, glad that his former team-mate had not been seriously injured.

"That's great!" he turned to the wide open clearing, now free of Naruto's.

"So, you wanna get started?" he asked brightly. The long haired girl nodded, and then her eyes widened as the blonde in front of her raised his fists.

Taking in her look of surprise, Naruto stepped back.

"You don't want to fight me?" he asked, giving her an inquisitive look as she began to twist a finger around a lock of her hair nervously.

"I-I don't want to hurt you N-Naruto-kun" she managed finally.

Naruto gave her a confused look for a moment, and the pale girl blushed madly as she wondered if she had said too much.

"Don't worry about that, you wont be able to hurt me!" he exclaimed confidently, simultaneously dashing the hopes and relieving the indigo haired girl. She looked over at him, thought for a moment and then tentatively raised her own hands.

"O-Ok…" she agreed slowly.

"J-Just… D-Don't go easy on me, ok?" she asked. Naruto grinned.

"No problem." He assured her, arranging his hands to form his trademark seal.

XXXXXXXXXX

Within the Konoha library, Shikamaru was a stark contrast to his two fellow Konoha ninja training outside in the bright sunshine.

There were a number of reasons for his current confinement within the slightly dusty building, and the fact that it was quiet, dimly lit and away from the wrath of a certain blonde haired Suna girl was in fact only part of it.

He was not sleeping… Yet. He was reading. Well, he would be in a minute.

It had taken a little time, a fair bit of troublesome cajoling of the library staff, and some explanation from both sides but finally Shikamaru had found the Leaf village's foreign ninja indexes.

From that point on he had been in a restricted area of the library, available only to ninja, and he learned something valuable about the organisation of the village.

It was a mess.

It seemed that all the information that the village had on foreign ninja was contained on an entirely separate level below the main library. This was because, quite apart from the fact there was so much information, that information was always being changed, or moved, or being inspected by the Hokage, or by any number of other people. Hence the fact it was all a mess.

But separating it from the main library also afforded an extra level of security. In fact security within this previously unknown level of the library seemed tighter than almost anywhere else in the village and ANBU seemed to be almost everywhere. He had been told as he had entered that books could not be removed, and from what he had seen as he walked through the busy and brightly lit area, information had to be copied from the books and only the copies could then be whisked away.

The indexes, once he found them, held no information about ninja themselves. Their only purpose was to direct a search in the right direction. It seemed that the village of Konoha had such a wide base of knowledge built up over the years on foreign ninja that such a method was necessary to catalogue, and then find, all the available information. Having walked through the busy copying areas, and even now being surrounded by other ninja leafing through similar indexes, the lazy Chuunin felt he could appreciate this. From the indexes he had immediately found the Iwagakure directory, and began his search for the name Ishikawa Sho.

That had got him to where he was now, looking through the Rock village section of the library for the information on the Ishikawa family.

"_Finally…"_ he thought to himself, reaching out and pulling the thing from its companions on the shelf. He took a quick look around and spotted an available area to sit and read.

Cracking open the book, Shikamaru immediately noticed from the author's time and date that the information in the book had been recently changed. He looked at the title of the first page.

Current Leading Members of the Ishikawa Clan:

Isamu :42(Current Tsuchikage)

Sayuri:40(Wife of Isamu - Inactive)

Jurou:31 (Brother of Isamu - Recently Deceased)

Sho:17(1st Son of Isamu - Genin)

Hideyoshi:15(2nd Son of Isamu - Jounin)

Ryouta:13(3rd Son of Isamu - Chuunin)

Daichi:41(2nd Cousin of Isamu - Current Clan Leader)

Tomiko:39(Wife of Daichi - Inactive)

Yumi:20(1st Daughter of Daichi - Jounin)

Ichirou:18(1st Son of Daichi - Jounin)

Well that gave him something to start with. For now, what occupied most of the pineapple haired boy's attention was the fact that out of all of the offspring of the leaders of this clan, Sho seemed the least qualified. He turned the page.

"_Estimated number of clansmen, number of shinobi amongst them, active shinobi amongst them…"_ Shikamaru scanned the text quickly and dismissed most of the information as being useful only to the Hokage. It was the next section that was by far the most interesting of all.

Clan Techniques:

From numerous encounters with members of the Ishikawa Clan (the Third Great Shinobi War being the primary source of information), it has been surmised that any contact with any active shinobi member of this clan must be treated extremely seriously.

All members of the clan are born with the ability to utilise a bloodline technique known as "Yuutai" (ethereal body), allowing parts of, or indeed their whole body to 'phase'. Once activated the user cannot be harmed and will pass through any obstacle, be it organic, inorganic or chakra in nature.

Common tactics employing Yuutai include:

Wide area attacks used by allies (or even by the Yuutai user himself) while a Yuutai user is in close combat, can be used in the knowledge that the Yuutai user will escape harm. For example: wearing bandoliers of explosives or explosive notes, and then detonating them at close range. The user escapes harm by timing the use of the kekkei genkai.

Phasing through solid objects to reach enemies and attack by surprise. Numerous assassination techniques have been created by this clan utilising this technique.

A form of taijutsu that incorporates Yuutai. Unless a dedicated close combat specialist, it is seriously unwise to engage a Yuutai user knowledgeable in this field.

Weaknesses of Yuutai:

Reliable accounts have proved that under no circumstances can a Yuutai user deactivate their bloodline in an area of their body that would cause that area to re-materialise inside a solid object. Lack of chakra, or forcing the deactivation causes the destruction of the area in question for the Yuutai user, with no effect on the solid object (see contact report 52876 for details).

Though 'phased', they are still able to see (Change in eyes when using Yuutai something to do with this?) and as such users of this technique are still susceptible to Genjutsu. Similarly, though 'phased', Yuutai users also seem to cast shadows. This makes them vulnerable to the shadow capture techniques employed by the Nara clan, though strangely not to shadow sewing, possibly due to its physical nature.

Prolonged use of the bloodline causes heavy chakra exhaustion. It has been theorised that this is due to the fact chakra must be concentrated all over the body, even internally in order to activate the bloodline.

Tactical Advice for Engagement:

Long ranged, non-Genjutsu shinobi should completely avoid any Yuutai user. Their Clan technique gives the opportunity to close the distance and engage without any risk of harm.

Conventional close range fighters should also generally avoid a Yuutai user. Jyuuken has been recorded to be an effective counter to a number of its forms however, especially since successful tenketsu closing will render Yuutai ineffective in that area.

Mid-range shinobi, utilising either Nara techniques or Genjutsu are the most effective counters to a Yuutai user.

If any Konoha shinobi is forced to face a Yuutai user in combat without these counters, it is advised that the battle should be made as prolonged as possible. Though the Ishikawa Clan famously have large stores of chakra, repeated use of the Yuutai over a long period cannot be maintained.

Shikamaru leaned back in his chair.

So he had saved that Sand Genin all that time ago with one of the only counters currently known about and available to Konoha.

"_Lucky kid…"_ he considered, flicking through the next few pages. They were mainly concerned with the accounts that had gleaned what information he had just read. Notes covered the margins all over, identifying the important parts, what needed clarification and what was mere conjecture.

The dark haired boy sighed as he turned the page, then paused as he fully realised what he turned to.

"Profiles…" he breathed, quickly flicking through until…

XXXXXXXXXX

If you believe some people, when someone says your name it means that you will sneeze. More accurately, some people believe that if you sneeze, you're being talked about.

Sho didn't believe a word of it. The thought didn't even cross his mind as he wandered into another restaurant, rubbing at his nose.

This one was barbeque he told himself, his thought confirmed by the sight of a small group fighting over their grilled meat. Sho smiled at the scene and allowed himself to be directed to a table by the attractive waitress. She seemed a little intimidated by his height. Or maybe it was the headband; he assumed people in this village must know their own history.

As she left, taking his drink order with her, the tall boy set the menu down, leaned back and sighed.

He wasn't avoiding them, either of them. But the atmosphere had gotten so intense between the two since they had both calmed down that he figured they needed some time alone.

Well, it seemed that Eri wanted to go further than the original plan had intended. And that was pretty far, hence why he and Mihoto had started to have second thoughts. But if that wasn't enough for Eri then it only really left…

The brown haired boy looked up at the ceiling as he leaned back against his seat. It was up to Mihoto to work out what her sister was thinking. He certainly didn't stand a chance on that front…

His train of thought was interrupted by a small voice.

"Sir? Sir?"

It seemed the waitress was back. The drink she had brought had been there a while too, all the ice had melted. It seemed he'd been spaced out a little.

"Oh, sorry." He gave her an apologetic smile which she returned. It was a welcome change to the atmosphere that had been building again in his head.

"Are you ready to order?" she asked, holding up her pad and pencil. The Iwagakure ninja looked at the menu he had left lying on the table and then back at the smiling girl. He paused for a second and then grinned.

"Er, what would you recommend?" he asked, catching the girl off guard slightly. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut in quickly.

"Sorry, just bring me two of something. I trust your judgement." He gave her another smile.

"Two…? Are you…" she wondered aloud, trailing off. Sho nodded his affirmation.

"Gotta keep my strength up right?" he asked cheerfully, grinning at the flustered girl who only nodded before walking away.

Well, at the very least that made him feel better. It probably was the height thing that intimidated her earlier he told himself, settling back into his seat.

This was good. He could come here again.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Hi."

"Hi."

The atmosphere was not good, but then it was a morgue and such places involving death are not conductive to good conversation.

The fact that Temari was here to confirm the fact that three of the Genin she had brought here were dead, that she had filled out paperwork about the whole thing and then waited until a Konoha representative was around also did little to brighten the environment.

The two girls shared a look in the brightly lit and chillingly sterile room and then Ino walked over to the first of the tables and slowly drew back the sheet. Temari nodded silently in confirmation.

The process was repeated for the second body, but when the two blonde girls reached the side of the third body Ino stopped and regarded her Sand village companion with a pained look. Temari waited patiently.

"This one is…" Ino struggled to find the words but Temari did not want to linger more than she had to.

"Let's just get this over with." She stated simply, watching as Ino hesitated at first and then drew back the sheet to reveal the blackened and faceless state of the final member of the deceased trio of Suna ninja.

To Ino's surprise, Temari's eyes did not move from the corpse until she had replaced the sheet but the medical ninja did notice the increased heart and breathing rate that the sight had caused.

"I'm sorry." Ino said, unsure even as the words left her lips what she said them for. Temari stirred slightly and looked at the medical ninja in front of her.

"There was a Rain ninja who came in the other day from the preliminaries…" she stopped as Ino shook her head slowly.

"We couldn't revive him. The synapses in his brain were overloaded in the same way as…" her gaze flickered to the body she was currently standing next to. She didn't mention that the boy she had just been questioned about had been the first patient she had lost so far in her medical career. She didn't know what was worse, the fact she had lost him, the fact that she had been told by her supervisor afterwards that he was a lost cause anyway or that she had then been congratulated for having one of the longest times before a fatality for a rookie. She hadn't been working at the hospital for even a month yet…

There was an awkward silence between the two girls as each contemplated their own thoughts. It was Temari who finally broke it.

"I should go." She stated. Ino only nodded.

Both girls felt better having left the oppressive atmosphere of the room. But not much better.

XXXXXXXXXX

It had been a long day, Hinata considered, but an incredibly good one. They had sparred all morning until she was exhausted. Then while she had taken a break from the bright blonde boy and the bright sunshine in the shade of the trees she had watched him continue his hand to hand practice.

She was so glad that she had packed a lunch for the two of them, as when Naruto suddenly declared he was hungry, the look on his face when she told him he need not go all the way back into town would have made her day all on its own.

She had then blushed and stuttered her way through the meal as the blonde haired boy proceeded to roundly praise her cooking skills as well as her earlier fighting skills. The indigo haired girl had then nearly fainted when out of the blue he had asked her to unblock the tenketsu she had closed earlier, and she had gingerly pressed against his chest, arms and legs in such a tender manner that Naruto wondered if she thought he was some sort of china doll.

Then they had begun afternoon training, and instead of fight each other they both practiced their more advanced ninjutsu until the whole training area looked by the end of the day as if a hurricane carrying various bladed weapons had hit it.

And now here they were, sitting in the dusk side by side, dishevelled and tired but ultimately happy. Of course, Hinata had tired out before the blonde but he had not continued much longer.

"Y'know, I think we overdid it slightly." Naruto joked, resting his head back on the tree behind him.

"Mhhm." Hinata agreed, nodding even though it hurt to do so. She was so tired! If she didn't get up soon then sleep could take her right here.

"_I can't do that."_ She told herself, scrunching her eyes up and then blinking them open in an effort to rid herself of the heaviness that was creeping into them. She looked over at Naruto, who looked similarly bushed, even with the massively satisfied smile on his face.

"You know, training with you has been really awesome. I haven't trained with anyone like this since…" He paused and looked at the tired girl beside him who regarded him with a sleepy smile and a pink tinge to her cheeks.

"…well, since the old days I guess." He admitted with a chuckle.

The girl's lavender coloured eyes began to droop again, and now the sight of the blonde's right shoulder was beginning to look more and more comfortable. His heartfelt words seemed to be coming to the long haired girl as if from some sort of dream, warming her from the inside and not in any way helping her stay awake.

A small, warm weight dropped onto Naruto's right shoulder.

At first surprised, the blonde chuckled again.

"Guess we really did overdo it huh?" He asked the peaceful form of the sleeping girl, wondering how he would get her home. Another grin crept across his face as a memory surfaced.

Taking her left hand and leaning forward he draped it around his left shoulder, then repeated the process with her right hand. Then each of his worn hands found the underside of her legs.

"Hold on Hinata." he said quietly, readying himself to stand up as a small sound escaped the indigo haired girl's lips.

"Mhmm…" She murmured, leaning her head on his back and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"There we go!" Naruto exclaimed as he stood, staggering a little due to his fatigue. He looked over his shoulder at the slumbering girl.

"Don't worry, I'll get you home." He smiled as she gripped hold of him tighter. He took the first few wobbly steps and laughed.

"Even if it kills me. Hehe."

XXXXXXXXXX

And there we go. Like I said, it's been a while. Hopefully it won't be too long until next time but I do have an essay to do, then another essay, then another essay, then a dissertation… Hmm. I'll be back. Promise. I'll get annoyed with work and come back to this probably.

The restaurant scene might have seemed a bit random, but it does have a purpose, honest. Hanabi will be back, but she ain't a main character so there won't be a great deal of focus. It's a NaruHina story after all. Oh yeah, and I have too many ideas for Kiba. I'm not sure which one to choose.

I have too many ideas. I need to get out of my own head…

Oh, and Sorrel: Your review did make me feel guilty for now writing for so long so I guess I'll dedicate this chapter to you. Hope you enjoyed it.

Hope everyone enjoyed it.

Later.


	38. Gradual Progress

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. Hey there. Anyone played Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm? Me and my little bro have beaten it now… Actually, late last night I took Hinata on a little crusade with Naruto as backup and beat Kimimaro, Kabuto, Orochimaru, Kisame and then Itachi. Turns out Hinata can get a little bit feisty when the safety of her blonde boy is in question… Horribly addictive, but anyway…

Chapter 38: Gradual Progress

The moment she had woken up the next day a multitude of thoughts had run through Hinata's head, beginning with: 'I fell asleep on Naruto-kun' and then very quickly going from there.

When she had finally gotten herself up and begun her usual daily rituals, she couldn't help but notice the strange looks she was getting from the various members of the household. Ranging from encouraging smiles to disapproving stares, she had hardly noticed her father until he was right it front of her.

"Last night you were brought back home unconscious by Naruto-san." He had stated simply. The lavender eyed girl had merely nodded.

"He assured me that your training was very strenuous." He had continued, eliciting another nod from the girl in front of him.

"I trust that you will show your improvement during the final stages of the Chuunin exams."

And then he had left.

The strangest thing was that now, once again standing in the morning sunlight in front of Naruto she felt confident that maybe this time she would be able to.

"Let's get started Hinata!" Naruto grinned, finally attracting the dark haired girl's attention as he raised his hands to form the seal for his favourite move.

"W-Wait!" she called out suddenly, surprising herself as well as the orange clad ninja. Perhaps she was beginning to change, she thought to herself.

"What?" he asked, a puzzled look written across his features. Hinata paused for a second before speaking again, unable to help herself admiring the expression that was so quintessentially Naruto.

"Er… W-We've been sparring for four days now…" she began, trying to work out what she would say in her head before she continued. The blonde's confused look remained.

"Right! So…?" he walked back over to the smaller girl, his hands behind his head.

Evidently, Naruto saw nothing wrong with this approach. Hinata was a strong opponent and sparring with her was tough for them both. The indigo haired girl had to admit that it was a good way to train. But…

"W-Well, we won't be fighting each other will we?" she tried to explain. By the blank look the spiky haired boy gave her, he obviously still didn't quite get it. She smiled warmly at him, happy to explain.

"I-I am a hand to hand fighter, r-right?" she asked. Naruto nodded.

"B-But your opponent is a mid-range elemental jutsu fighter…" she trailed off.

The blonde still looked confused.

"Sorry, I really don't get it." He admitted exasperatedly. Hinata giggled, drawing an affronted look from the boy in front of her.

"Hey, don't laugh just 'cos I'm slow." He reprimanded her, stopping her in her tracks as she quickly tried to defend herself.

"I-I wasn't laughing because you were s-slow, you looked cute!" she burst out, before her eyes widened at the realisation of what she had just said.

For his part, Naruto was also quite surprised at the words of the reddening girl who now seemed to be trying to shrink into herself.

"Er… well that's okay I guess…" was all he could manage as the atmosphere abruptly became even more awkward as silence fell between the two of them.

Surprisingly, it was Hinata who broke it. Though somehow she did seem a little more tense to the blonde.

"A-Anyway, w-we should try and c-come up with tactics to use a-against our opponents… r-rather than against e-each other…" she stammered as her fingers danced together and her eyes didn't quite make contact with his.

Amidst the slight awkwardness of the situation and despite the pale girl's stammering, realisation finally dawned in the blonde's blue eyes.

"Ohhhhh… that's a really good idea Hinata!" he enthused, not helping the growing blush on the embarrassed kunoichi's face.

A sudden thought hit him.

"But how are we going to do that?" he asked, looking on with interest as the petite girl turned away from him and began rummaging around in the bag that usually only contained their combined lunches.

"H-Here." She said, handing him a small pad of paper and a pencil. He noticed that she held a second set in her hands. Despite himself, his blue eyes met her lavender ones quizzically.

"W-Write down e-everything you can remember about y-your opponent. A-Anything could be u-useful." She told him kindly, slowly sitting herself down at the base of the tree they were standing under.

The blonde remained on his feet for a few seconds, repeating her words to himself and looking down at the small pad. Sitting down a little off to the side of the girl who was now busying herself writing her own opponent's profile, he remembered a very angry girl dressed in a long trench coat.

A few minutes later, Hinata's writing was interrupted by a shadow falling across her. She looked up to see a very bashful looking blonde.

"Sorry Hinata, I couldn't think of anything…" he apologised, handing her what he had written.

Angry Girl

Big Coat

In fact it seemed that unable to think of anything else, the poor boy had underlined 'Angry' a few more times.

Looking back up at Naruto, Hinata couldn't help but giggle again, and this time all the tension that had been there before disappeared.

"L-Let me help…" she offered, moving over to give him room to sit.

XXXXXXXXXX

Life was pretty boring at the moment for Akimichi Chouji. Until Ino finished her stint at the hospital, team ten would not be back on active duty. And Ino wasn't finishing until Shikamaru had proctored the final stage of the Chuunin exam, which was still over a week away.

For now that left him and Shikamaru with Asuma-sensei, and while they both thought their teacher was the best one they could have gotten, Asuma was a hard task master. With one less student to train it was that much harder on the other two.

Which was why, as he walked down the street towards his favourite barbeque place, Chouji could already almost taste the food that lay inside.

"Chouji-kun! It's been a while! Where is everyone else?" a pleasant female voice greeted as he entered the restaurant. Chouji smiled at the waitress behind the counter who had just greeted him.

"Ruri-san!" he replied good naturedly.

"Ino is working at the hospital so she won't be joining us. Neither will Asuma-sensei or Shikamaru actually. It's just me I guess. They both made odd excuses though…" the normally good natured boy frowned and then brightened up.

"Both of them involved women… but Asuma-sensei gave me this!" he held out a large hand, containing a bundle of notes. The small waitress grinned.

"You must've trained hard today." She observed with a smile as her eyes flickered over to her right.

Following her look Chouji spotted a booth, but couldn't see who occupied it. He looked back at the waitress in front of him and realised that she looked a little distracted. Excited even.

"And how are you Ruri-san?" Chouji asked. The girl's eyes lit up at the question, then she gave another quick look to her right, pulled the large boy's arm to get him closer and lowered her voice.

"There's this guy who came in a few days ago, he eats almost as much as you do! He's come in every day since! Dad says it's great for business, especially since he's foreign. Imagine, we could become world famous!" she gushed. Chouji raised his eyebrows.

"Really?" he asked, intrigued.

"Yeah! Plus, he's a really nice guy!" she blushed slightly at the admission and Chouji chuckled slightly. The smaller girl half-frowned.

"Hey! I'm still a year older than you; it's depressing if you take pity on me." She joked.

"You can crush on whoever you like." Chouji tried to reassure her, eliciting another playfully dark look from the petite girl, whose eyes suddenly brightened with an idea.

"I know! I'll introduce you to him, hold on." She said, straightening up and walking over to the table she had been stealing glances at. She had a short conversation with the hidden person and then beckoned to the boy she had left by the counter.

"This is Chouji-kun, he's our best customer!" she announced, not noticing the surprised look that was shared between the two boys.

"Chouji-kun, this is Sho-kun. He's from the land of Earth, and he's a ninja. He's only been here a little while and he's already found the best barbeque place in Konoha right?" she stopped, finally taking in the slight look of embarrassment Chouji was wearing and the amused look Sho had on his face.

"What?" she asked, the confusion evident in her voice as she noticed the look between the two of them.

"Well… actually we've already met…" Chouji admitted.

"He was the one who escorted us here." Sho explained with a smile, answering the girl's question before it was asked.

"Ohh…" she breathed, before a thought almost visibly hit her.

"Well, do you want to sit with Sho-kun then?" she asked Chouji. The kindly Konoha boy looked over at the person he would be interrupting.

"Go ahead, I could use some company. Ruri-chan has been taking in customers since I've been here." He complained jovially. The girl in question looked torn.

"I'm sorry… but I should really get back to work. I should still be over there now actually…" she smiled.

"But I'll talk to you later, okay?" she reassured him, giving a little wave as she departed and reaching her greeting spot just as two more customers entered the restaurant.

The two boys watched the now busy girl welcome the two newcomers and lead them to their seats before finally facing each other again. Though he didn't want to admit it, Chouji was slightly nervous. He hardly knew this guy, so what on earth could they talk about?

Fortunately for Chouji, the two of them actually shared quite a lot in common, something that was proved by the very first thing that left the tall Rock ninja's mouth.

"So Chouji, I'll pay today. What do you want?"

Later, Sho would realise those few words had been a mistake.

XXXXXXXXXX

Maybe it was a mistake to sit around and wait for someone to come along and rescue the two of them.

Of course, it didn't need to be said that Kiba was not the most patient of people. Usually though, his natural liveliness was counteracted by the combination of Shino's reprimanding and Hinata and Kurenai's calming influence.

The only thing that was stopping him from going stir-crazy now was the fact that he was so busy taking care of Akamaru he hardly had any time to think.

Tasks that would have normally taken only a few minutes took hours without the ability to use chakra, and though none of it was overly difficult, knowing that it could be so much easier made each and every task that much more frustrating. It was only now that the feral boy knew the meaning of the phrase 'you don't know what you've got until it's taken away'.

Fishing had been the worst. Usually able to rely on the method of snatching fish from the water using pure speed, due to his chakra loss he had been forced to try other methods. Kunai had come first. He had scored hits, but was then forced to watch in exasperation as his 'catches' were washed away from him by the fast flowing river. Down to his last few kunai, the brown haired boy had sharpened as stick (which had taken a while, with a number of failed attempts) and waited for his prey.

This method had worked just fine from then on. That was, until he ran out of matches. Then fire had become an issue, and it was while he was desperately trying to light kindling for the umpteenth time in the last few days that he began to work out how long it would take to be found.

Assuming Sakura and Kakashi had escaped, and taking into account the fact it had taken them a week to get there in the first place uninjured, it would take a hell of a lot longer for them to get back. Then a team would have to be assembled to get him back, and that was assuming they thought he was still alive.

As the fire finally flared into life, Kiba gave his white haired companion an affectionate rub on the head. He was slightly surprised when the appreciative woof he was expecting turned out to be a low growl.

Despite his broken leg, Akamaru's nose was in perfect condition, and it seemed they had company. A short conversation revealed the bad news, that the large white dog didn't recognise any of the scents. The worse news was that judging from the scent of their chakra levels, the three people who were approaching were all ninja, and one of them was very strong.

Smothering the fire with a blanket, the teenage boy then covered a worried looking Akamaru in pre-prepared camouflage before rushing to a tree and, standing with his back to the study trunk, hoped that whoever was coming would miss the two of them.

Unfortunately, as his current situation showed quite clearly, Kiba's luck at the moment was not the best. Taking a brief look from behind the tree, the brown haired boy was able to spot two of the three ninja coming directly at him. There was at least one good thing though; they didn't seem to be paying much attention to what was ahead of them.

Despite the grimness of the situation, Kiba allowed himself a small smile. It seemed that through all the bad luck he had suffered recently, he had been allowed one glimmer of hope at least.

"_Looks like __these__ traps will actually get some use."_ he thought with a feral grin, as he kicked a couple of buried kunai out of the ground.

The next few events were only really memorable for the two luckless ninja who were approaching the injured Leaf Chuunin, because as soon as he had released the buried kunai from the hard earth, Kiba had immediately taken cover again behind the tree.

The kunai, which had been tied by wire to a low hanging branch, viciously released the said branch as it was kicked from the ground. But Kiba had not settled for such a simplistic trap as the two suddenly attacked ninja found out. If he had done, then his move would have been made far too early.

The branch had in fact flung out shuriken in all directions, each and every one of which flew past the surprised shinobi as two kunai embedded themselves in the branches behind them, both of their handles sporting a crackling explosive tag. Meanwhile, the temporarily ignored spinning weapons continued to pull behind them more metal wire, allowing the two targets no way of escape but forward as upon each thin wire hung a number of small but very recognisable tags.

As the tags began to detonate, it was the instincts of the embattled ninja that saved them.

However ironically, it also doomed them.

As the two set upon ninja leapt forward, Kiba had already tugged on the two wires he had held in his hands in response to the explosions, and released the final part of his trap.

Neither shinobi had the time or ability to dodge the net that came out of nowhere, blocking their path and preventing their escape from the approaching explosive note shockwave that sent them both through the tough net and sprawling across the forest floor where they landed, evidently completely unconscious.

"_It worked!"_ Kiba celebrated inwardly, knowing enough not to shout out his victory. According to Akamaru, there was still one out there. Now if he could find out where they-

The brown haired boy's thoughts stopped right there, as a cold and apparently extremely sharp implement was pressed gently, but firmly, against his throat.

"Who are you?" a voice from behind Kiba asked, somehow rising above the sudden pounding in his ears.

XXXXXXXXXX

It had been a strange day for Naruto, all things considered. This type of training was something completely new to the blonde boy, and he wasn't used to it. It wasn't that he was stupid; and in fact Hinata had repeatedly asked him very reproachfully to stop suggesting he might be. It was more that tactics, to Naruto, were something that were normally devised on the spur of the moment, in the heat of battle and on the fly… you know?

That had been what he had tried to say to the indigo haired girl when he had first become a little frustrated, that he would be able to work it out as he went along. But she had taken none of it. The thing was though, instead of sighing at him, like Kakashi-sensei or Ero-sennin might, or even shouting at him like Tsunade or Sakura-chan might, Hinata quietly but firmly continued to make her point as clearly as she could until he understood why it was that she was saying it.

It was a technique that he had never encountered before, but it was far and away his favourite. There were no bruises for a start, on his body or his ego.

But today the blonde had been able to witness a very rare thing, in that Hinata was the one who talked the most during their time together that day. She had told him stories of why and how her team had planned missions, something he had found they were all very good at for one very important reason. Her entire team was made up of trackers, which in seemingly all of the stories allowed them to sense the enemy long before the enemy detected their presence.

He looked at the long haired girl beside him as she continued to talk, this time over what they had done that day, and as she did so he wondered how she could be so patient with him when literally no-one else was. Though he was aware that normally he wasn't very receptive as an audience, interrupting or not understanding, for some reason Hinata seemed to enjoy talking to him. Yes, she still stuttered but as far as the blonde was concerned, that was just part of who the Hyuuga girl was. Plus, she did seem to be getting better. Interestingly though, after tuning out the way she would stumble over the occasional word, which was actually quite easy, Naruto found the quiet girl's voice to be quite comforting, to the point where sometimes he could miss the actual words-

He blinked as the end of her sentence seemed to end in a question.

"Er… Yes?" he ventured. His heart dropped as her face fell. It looked like she thought he was ignoring her.

To the blue eyed boy, this was the strangest problem of all. Despite the fact he thought she was not only an incredibly kind and patient person but also a kickass ninja, she herself seemed to have this insurmountable confidence problem. In fact, it was one of the reasons he still thought of her as slightly dark and weird. A lot of girls in the indigo haired girl's shoes, given her looks, talents and station in life would be confident to the point of arrogance, impatient and aloof. And yet Hinata was none of these things, and thinking about it he supposed that it was probably because of that he found that her darkness and weirdness was actually very likable. There was really no-one else like her.

"_If only she could have a little more confidence." _Naruto thought inwardly.

But even though he was unaware of the positive effect that his presence had caused in Hinata already, his talk with Shino all that time ago and his and Hinata's time together in the forest of death had proved that it was most definitely confidence that was Hinata's problem. The strange thing was, though he had promised the stoic Aburame that he would help Hinata, for once the promise was not at the forefront of Naruto's mind. He wanted to prove to Hinata that she was in fact a better person than she thought.

"Sorry Hinata, I guess I spaced out a bit there. What were you saying?" He grinned bashfully as her expression lightened.

"Y-Your opponent's fight was very short, b-but that's because she took advantage of the fact that h-her opposition was standing still in order to hit him. A-At least that's what I think, r-right?" She repeated.

This time, paying attention and thinking through her softly spoken words, Naruto cottoned on almost immediately.

"So you're saying I should keep moving?" he asked, smiling as he received a positive nod from the lavender eyed girl.

"S-Shadow clones are a big advantage as well… h-hopefully she won't know which one is real." Hinata continued carefully, almost able to feel the two blue orbs focusing on her.

In truth, throughout the entire day she had been elated, but somehow slightly unsettled by the attention Naruto had been giving her. The elation was easy to pinpoint. She was talking to Naruto, and he was listening! The closeness to the boy and the fact that she was getting noticeably better at communicating with him almost made the Hyuuga heiress feel as if she were dreaming.

It was the unsettled feeling that was harder to bear. Partly it was because she just wasn't used to speaking for long periods, but it was mainly due to a fear that the indigo haired girl knew was based entirely within her own insecurities, that at some point the blonde would get bored, or stop listening. She just had to fight those negative thoughts.

"And… close combat is p-probably the best idea, since she seems to be a m-mid-ranged type." Hinata finished up.

Despite the fact that most of what she had said had been quite obvious; the timid girl felt it was all worth saying. She wasn't being patronising, she was trying to be thorough. But from the look on his face, it seemed Naruto had a question.

"So what sort of training do you think I need to do?" he asked eagerly, getting straight to the point in his own unique way.

Hinata shifted uncomfortably, looking out to the breezy clearing where they had been training over the past few days. Her fingers began to play in her lap as she tried to word her response.

Taking this as a bad sign, the blonde tried to reassure the girl who had abruptly gone even quieter.

"Don't worry; whatever training it is I'm up to it! You don't have to sugar coat it!" he enthused confidently, his bright blue eyes entrancing the girl who was again looking into his eyes. Naruto became even more confused as she broke his gaze again and lowered her head.

"… T-Training with your shadow clones is probably what you should be doing" she admitted forlornly, negative thoughts rising against her will again.

What had she done? She had stopped his training to analyse his opponent, used up an entire day, and then told him to do exactly what he had been doing earlier. Hinata couldn't help but feel stupid, and it certainly didn't help that she had done it in front of the object of her affections. She jumped slightly when the said boy began to laugh.

"Ha! You mean what we've been doing the past coupla days?" he asked with a big grin. Hinata nodded dumbly, surprised at his reaction. Was he laughing at her?

"That's great, so I've already done plenty of training then. That's great!" He fixed the girl opposite him an enthusiastic look.

"Now we've got to focus on your training I guess, right?" he asked, wondering why she was still so quiet. Thinking back on his earlier musings, he spoke up again, not allowing her to answer the question he had just asked.

"But don't worry Hinata; I'll help you through it all. Just tell me what I can do for you and I'll do it." He promised confidently, as the indigo haired girl's brain switched through the gears of the conversation. She settled on a small noise of assent as her face flushed slightly. Naruto smiled.

"Great!" he looked around at the darkening sky.

"We should probably get going though, it's gonna be dark soon. I'll walk with you back home okay?"

Nodding again, this time more enthusiastically, Hinata rose to her feet and joined Naruto as he began to make his way back into the village. Stealing glances at his apparently carefree face, Hinata found herself silently apologising to the blonde and promising him that she too would try to be more positive.

"_I will keep doing my best Naruto-kun; I still have a long way to go."_

XXXXXXXXXX

Hmm, not sure what I think of this chapter. I don't think I should say what I was aiming at, leave that to the story. Hopefully it all makes sense… Dunno what's gonna be in the next chapter, other than a continuation of NaruHina-ness. Thinking of bringing in a Konohamaru and Hanabi cameo, or Shikamaru/Temari piece. Or I could update Sakura and Kakashi's status… I could leave Kiba hanging for a bit too. Hmm, choices.... Actually, I'm kinda mean to Kiba ain't I?

Opinions…? Maybe…?

Either way, it's five in the morning and I need to work tomorrow. Grr.

Later.


	39. A Change in Luck?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the manga or the anime. A month and a half since the last update… But I'm not giving up! I'm really gonna try to finish the next chapter as soon as I can to get the best run up possible for the Chuunin exam finals. In the meantime…

Enjoy.

Chapter 39: A Change in Luck?

"Who are you?"

If the blade against his throat hadn't been the subject of every thought currently going through his head, Kiba would have once again been cursing his evidently terrible luck. It was almost as if he was being mocked, being allowed the success of taking two ninja down without any chakra, only to be ambushed by a third.

However, understandably, he was currently trying to think of a response to the question that wouldn't end up with his blood decorating the forest floor. Considering the short time he had to give an answer, the trapped boy decided to go with the truth.

"I'm a shinobi from Konoha, my team was fighting an S-Classed enemy and I got separated. I can't use chakra." He explained quickly, leaving Akamaru out of his explanation. He still didn't know what his ambusher planned to do with him.

"Konoha…" the ninja behind him mused as Kiba wondered whether he had made the right decision. The sword stayed where it was.

However, even with ninety percent of his attention still on the blade at his throat, the Leaf ninja still heard the rustling coming from the trees above, and before he could say a word he found himself released and then thrown roughly across the ground.

When he looked up, he found himself staring at an increasingly tense stand off.

Three more people had turned up, and taking the way they were dressed into account Kiba found himself forced to assume that they were with the similarly garbed two he had incapacitated barely a minute before. Each of the three wore grim and determined expressions.

The person they had surrounded, a tall, masked and tightly clothed ninja reminded him of an ANBU operative. The mask certainly helped the whole ANBU look but though the styling of the clothes was also similar, it was the colours emphasising dark browns and greens rather than blacks or greys that marked the difference. The sword the figure was holding in one hand also identified the masked man as the one who had ambushed him.

The stand off continued and none of the four ninja spoke, only increasing the tension in Kiba as he sat motionless at the base of a tree. Through the tension though, it surprised him that even though all three of the newcomers looked in his direction, they all seemed to quickly dismiss him. It seemed that he wasn't important enough to warrant a second glance.

Looking between them, the helpless Konoha ninja tried to work out who he wanted to win the fight: the one who had been holding a blade to his throat, or the ones whose friends he had blown up…

As the killing intent rose to a pitch that even Kiba in his chakra starved state could sense, the fight began.

Springing forward into the blind spot of the masked ninja, the smallest of the three drew a pair of kunai and twisted in the air, aiming to cut his opponent from shoulder to hip and forcing the much taller ninja towards the other two.

Avoiding the wide slash, the put upon shinobi stepped forward and parried the incoming blows of the second attacker with his sword arm while drawing something with his left hand and leaping into the air to dodge the shuriken scything towards him sent by his third opponent.

Two of the rapidly spinning weapons embedded themselves inches above the watching Leaf ninja's head and as he rolled behind the tree for cover he missed the leaping mask ninja throw a kunai downward and into the midst of the three other shinobi, the wire attached sporting a number of explosive tags spooling out as it and it's owner travelled away from each other.

The ensuing explosion scorched the tree that Kiba had just darted behind, and only two of the three ninja managed to leap away unscathed, the largest of the group too slow to escape the blast completely, his sleeve on fire as he landed awkwardly on a nearby branch.

Falling back down to earth, the masked shinobi readied his sword and pointed it at the burning man. However, though he was injured, the muscular man seemed to concentrate on the flames rather than focus on extinguishing them, and as he did so they began to rise from his arm and coil lazily around it, leaving blackened areas of flesh and clothing where it had been burning before.

Quickly focusing on his incoming opponent, the burned man flicked his arm and sent the coiling mass of flame upwards at the rapidly descending ninja above.

Reacting immediately, the falling ninja sliced at an incoming branch and kicked sharply downwards, sending the severed wooden limb at the incoming fire attack. But as it exploded in mid-air the two ninja who had managed to escape the earlier blast reappeared on either side of their sword wielding opponent, their hands flashing through two sets of elemental seals.

Darting back around the side of the tree he was hiding behind, Kiba only managed to get a glimpse of the ANBU-esque shinobi before he was engulfed by the lightning/water combination released by the two ninja he had been caught between.

So when only a split-second later he emerged, still falling and completely unscathed, Kiba found himself at a complete loss as to what had just happened. No hand seals, no replacement, and evidently solid, conclusively proved by the earth shattering impact that then sent the burned ninja careening into the ground below.

The shocked Konoha ninja looked across at the two team mates of the one who had just been defeated and then hesitated again. Yes, there was surprise in their eyes, but there was also a strange recognition.

"Ishikawa" the smallest one muttered, sharing a glace with his remaining female team mate.

Glancing between the two sides, Kiba found himself wondering how he got into these situations.

XXXXXXXXXX

Back in Konoha, the two who had been training non-stop over the past number of days were, unlike Kiba, immensely enjoying themselves. After what Naruto had laughingly described as a 'warm up', once again proving his ridiculous stamina to Hinata, Naruto had lived up to his promise of the day before and sat down with the indigo haired girl to tackle the issue of her upcoming opponent.

Sitting cross-legged opposite the lavender eyed girl, he watched with a smile as she absent-mindedly tucked a lock of hair behind her ear before drawing out what she had written about her opponent. She laid the pad of paper out, opening it towards him. To her surprise, he immediately turned it back around and shifted himself so that he was next to the now reddening girl.

"Now we can both read it." He grinned, eliciting a small noise of assent from Hinata's throat. He looked back down at the page.

"Maybe we should start with this thing he got you with in the forest, the one that damaged your foot."

The blonde took a sideways glace at the girl next to him.

"By the way, how is your foot?"

"I-It's okay." Hinata assured him, touched by his concern. Beginning to turn away, she jumped slightly at his next sudden outburst.

"I know! You can see when it's coming with your Byakugan right? If you dodge it then there's no problem!" he looked pleased with himself for coming up with the answer so fast, Hinata felt kind of bad for bursting his bubble.

"But… well, he pinned me in place first… w-with that grass attack…" she explained as Naruto's face fell.

"Oh well." He shrugged.

"Any idea is a good idea, as long as you're coming up with them. I think Iruka-sensei said that once…" he smiled again, positive energy almost physically coming off him in waves. It was the sort of smile that made Hinata's heart flutter.

"Y-Yeah…" she managed. She smiled to herself as Naruto's expression became serious again. He really was putting a lot of effort into this. For her… She felt her chest go light again and almost missed the blue eyed boy's next suggestion.

"So you have to stop that attack first?" he mused, falling backwards to lie on the ground.

"Mhmm… b-but Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō leaves me open to the other attack…" Hinata explained.

"I-I thought about using an explosive kunai to destroy the attack-"

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Naruto rose to his elbows.

"But… well… his attack comes from all directions. I-It would only work if all the grass was bunched up…"

"It's still something you can use, it's a good idea Hinata, don't be so hard on yourself." He encouraged her, fixing her with his blue-eyed gaze.

"S-Sorry… I-I mean okay." Naruto smiled at her and lay back down, closing his eyes in thought. What could Hinata do that might be useful in this situation…

Hinata herself was thinking over the same problem, with about as much success. Whatever way she looked at it, to protect herself against the blades of grass she would have to stop to use her defensive move. But stopping left her open to her opponents other attack. It was so frustrating when your thoughts went round and round in circles…

"Geez!" Naruto exclaimed next to her, leaping up to his feet. It seemed he felt the same way as her. In a way, that at least was comforting.

"I'm gonna do some training. I think better then anyway. You don't mind do you?" he asked, giving her a concerned look. She shook her head and watched as roughly a hundred Naruto's burst into existence and began an all out brawl.

Maybe Naruto-kun had the right idea, Hinata thought to herself. If she worked on something else then maybe the answer would come naturally. No need to force it.

"_Maybe I can work on __**that**__…" _the lavender eyed girl thought, prising her gaze from the visual feast in front of her eyes.

When Naruto returned about an hour or so later, slightly battered and bruised, he found a very concentrated-looking Hinata kneeling down and focusing very intently on her clasped hands. The blonde didn't know what she was doing, but he decided to let her know he was there.

"Hey Hinata, I'm back!" he announced, wiping his brow as he sat down beside her. Strangely, she hadn't yet acknowledged his return.

"Geez, I wish the sun would give off a bit." He looked at the lavender-eyed girl.

"Aren't you hot in that jacket?" he asked. But instead of answering, the pale girl turned herself towards the blonde.

"I did it." She stated simply, holding her hands out.

They were full of water. She seemed very pleased with herself. In fact, she had on one of the happiest smiles he had ever seen. And the poor blonde couldn't work out why.

"Hinata, that's just-" he started, cut off by a sudden face full of water. He spluttered for a moment before finally managing to get words out.

"Hey! What was that for?" he asked incredulously.

"You said you were hot…" she replied with an oddly mischievous smile, trying to stop herself from giggling at the mixture of surprise and confusion written all over his face.

She felt a little delirious. Whether it was because of what she had just achieved or her proximity to Naruto, or probably a mixture of the two, she suddenly felt invincible.

Still unsure about what was going on, he realised that it definitely didn't seem like anything was wrong. At the same time a light flickered on in the prankster area of Naruto's mind. She had splashed him. That couldn't go unpunished.

As he rummaged around in her bag, through her elation, Hinata wondered what he was up to. Until, with a glint in his eye, he produced the water bottles.

"N-Naruto-kun…" she murmured, simultaneously backing away and getting to her feet.

"Revenge!" the blonde shouted with a grin, springing forwards after the laughing and fleeing Hyuuga girl.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I don't like this." Sho complained with a sigh, his huge frame slumped heavily over the table in front of him.

"Neither do I you know…" Mihoto replied, her tone of voice similar.

"We're going to be found out, and killed. There's going to be a major diplomatic incident and we'll be responsible for another war and hundreds of deaths…" the green eyed girl continued, her long coat pooling around her.

Sho looked up from his position.

"You don't care about what we'll be doing to this guy?" he asked, more inquisitively than accusingly.

"I don't care about him at all." She paused.

"I mean… I don't want to go through with this because I care about Eri, and you, and our village. The consequences…"

"So remove them. Hypothetically I mean. If he was here, right now. No consequences. Would you do it?" Sho eyed his friend carefully.

Mihoto paused.

"It would be tempting… but…" she paused again, trying to gauge the brown haired boy's reaction.

"…you can't take events out of context, otherwise they become meaningless. We could say 'what if?' forever and never get anywhere… This is a bad idea, because we will fail." she eyed the slumped boy facing her.

"What about you? We know that at the very least his sensei killed a number of people in your family." She pointed out. Sho sighed.

"When I agreed to this, all that time ago, I'll admit I was naïve. I figured every resident of Konoha was an evil bastard and that taking one down, especially one who had hurt you two, would be the right thing to do." He laughed slightly before continuing. It was a laugh with no humour.

"It's weird that the missions I went on that made me strong enough to do this showed me that it was the wrong thing to do. I met so many people, and they all wanted roughly the same thing. The people I've met here as well, the ones I've made friends with, they're not any different from us." He sighed again before continuing.

"But you're right, I agreed to this, and if we don't go through with it, Eri will be killed doing it alone." His head met the table again. Mihoto regarded him with a puzzled look.

"So you're not worried about the consequences?" she asked. Sho did not lift his head.

"I'm not worried about the consequences because with both of us involved I don't think there will be any. This isn't a bad idea because it will fail. It's a bad idea because it will work."

XXXXXXXXXX

Hinata was soaked. A large portion of her long indigo hair was now sticking to the back of her drenched jacket as she walked back to where they had been sitting, giving her an oddly dishevelled look that didn't quite match up with the smile etched on her face. Sitting down again, the pale girl retrieved a small towel from her bag and wiped her face on it, removing the water dripping down it.

Naruto joined her a few seconds later, sitting opposite the girl with a mischievous grin written over his features.

"That'll teach you to mess with me!" he joked, looking at the now almost empty bottles in his hands and downing what little liquid there was. As he finished his drink he looked more closely at the two containers and frowned.

"Hey Hinata, if all the water was in these bottles, how did you splash me earlier?" he enquired, his gaze flickering to the kunoichi who was now wringing out her hair with the towel. Her look of concentration transformed into a small smile at the question and she put the towel beside her.

"I-I've been working on this for a while, but… this is the first time it's worked…" she explained, holding out her hands again and cupping them. Naruto peered at her outstretched hands, his expression inquisitive. He was about to ask what was going on when he noticed Hinata had closed her eyes and was concentrating.

Concentrating chakra into her hands, she focused on the sensation of its flow through her, paying special attention to build slowly. This was still in its early stages. Steadying her breathing, she pictured it clearly and increased the flow of chakra.

Still unsure of what was meant to be happening; Naruto's gaze flickered from Hinata's calm face to her palms and almost missed the start of her success. Fixing his gaze on her hands he sat and watched the water filled the pale girl's closed hands, slowly at first and then, gaining enough confidence to open her eyes, a small waterfall appeared as she increased the flow of chakra. The delight at her success was evident in the smile that graced her face.

"Wow Hinata, that's incredible!" Naruto exclaimed, causing a little colour to enter the kunoichi's face.

"T-Thank you Naruto-kun. This is actually only the second time this has worked… I-It seems to be getting easier though…" she said, her gaze not leaving the gradually growing mass of water. With a little more concentration, she formed the body of water into an expanding sphere, small ripples forming as the breeze blew by.

"Um… Could you get one of those bottles for me p-please Naruto-kun? I-I'd like to try something." Hinata asked tentatively, her gaze not shifting, as if she were performing a balancing act. As the blonde held out one of the containers, Hinata began to focus again.

Naruto watched in amazement as a rope of water began to snake from the sphere and cautiously lean over to feed itself into the neck of the outstretched bottle. It was only when the bottle reached about three-quarters full that the indigo haired girl finally lost control.

"Ahh!" the lavender eyed girl exclaimed in surprise as both of their feet were drenched in the remaining water. She looked up at the blonde apologetically. He grinned back.

"I'll let you off this time." he joked, handing her the partly filled bottle.

"That was really incredible though, how did you do that? That was an elemental jutsu right?" the blonde enquired as she took it from him. Hinata blushed slightly at the compliment and tried to explain.

"Yeah… Um… Well… There's the hand seals and the chakra manipulation… but there's more than that…" she paused, thinking she might sound a little strange. Naruto, however, only looked interested. Closing her eyes slightly, she tried to describe the feeling.

"… it's like… sensing what the water is like… and then… and then allowing your chakra to move in that way. Water flows… and it's clear… and pure." She opened her eyes again and looked at the blonde in front of her. He seemed excited.

"So, can I give it a try?" he asked. Hinata found herself caught a little off guard but recovered quickly. This was one of the traits she really did love about him. Whether or not he fully understood something, he was always willing to try it out. Her answer though, was a little more tentative than the thoughts running through her head.

"Err… I don't know… Do you have an affinity for water?" Naruto looked puzzled.

"An affinity?" Hinata smiled at him and tried to explain that too.

"M-Most ninja have an affinity for a certain element… an element that they can manipulate their chakra into more easily than the others…" she paused for a moment before continuing.

"O-Of course, it's possible to learn how to employ other elements… but your natural elemental affinity is the easiest to perform…" Naruto was nodding.

"But… even then… it's not that easy. This has taken me about six months…" she admitted. The blue eyed boy seemed surprised at this, which quickly turned into a grin.

"I'm sure I'll be able to cut down on the time!" he declared confidently, before his expression changed slightly.

"But how do I find out my elemental affinity?" he asked the indigo haired girl sitting opposite him.

"Well… Once Kurenai-sensei found me manipulating water as part of my training… s-she let me do this paper test-" she was cut off by the sound of Naruto groaning, and suddenly realised what he had thought.

"N-No, not an exam! It's paper that's sensitive to chakra… I-If you're water natured, it goes wet when you focus chakra into it… if you're fire natured it burns. E-Earth affinity makes the paper crumble and lightning makes it scrunch up… I-I think Wind cuts it…" she finished explaining and Naruto was lost in thought.

"_Which element would I prefer…?"_ he wondered, as a small but insistent thought tried to make itself heard.

"Cuts it…" he murmured, trying not to let the thought slip away. His blue eyes focused on Hinata, who almost took a step back in surprise.

"Hinata, you can make blades of chakra in your hands can't you?" he asked, almost rhetorically. She nodded silently, trying not to break Naruto's line of thought.

"Could you do the same thing… but with your feet?" he wondered aloud, sounding more excited now the idea had formed itself more fully.

"I… I've never tried…" she admitted, slowly realising what he meant.

"That's it then! If you make blades at your feet he'll never be able to get them with those plants!" he grinned at the long haired girl.

"What are we waiting for, we've got a week to perfect this!" he exclaimed, rising to his feet.

"O-Okay!" Hinata agreed.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_Ishikawa?"_ Kiba thought to himself, looking at the masked shinobi carefully. His name maybe? A family name? What did that mean? And how had the two others identified him like that?

"_When he avoided that attack!"_ Kiba realised. A family technique, possibly a bloodline…

Whatever it was, obviously the other two knew something about it. If he had to fight this guy later then he had to pay special attention now.

In complete contrast to the beginning of the fighting earlier, the tension was not allowed to build at all and the female member of the remaining pair flashed through hand seals, ending by pressing her hand into the tree next to her. Wondering what she had done, Kiba found himself left with a jarring sensation when he next blinked.

And all the trees had moved.

"_What the hell?"_ he asked himself in confusion. He had been crouched behind a tree for the past few minutes, and now… He reached out a hand.

"_It's still here!"_

Somehow, that woman had managed to create the illusion that all the trees were in different places. On the plus side, that meant that if he stayed here he would still be safe behind the tree. On the down side, he could no longer watch how the battle developed.

Over on the forest floor the masked shinobi had sheathed his sword and then closed his eyes, though it would have been impossible for anyone else to tell. Having memorised the layout of the battlefield already, the confusing and incorrect images shown to him by his eyes would have only got in the way. His only disadvantage now was that he couldn't risk using his bloodline technique.

A little way away, the pair of ninja observed the unmoving figure for a moment and exchanged a signal. Had he been watching, the lone ninja would have seen the two of them blur with speed as they approached, but he could not see.

He was listening.

It was only at the last second, when the woman heard the tell tale sound of a crackling explosive note, that she realised the tall figure had rigged himself to explode. Shouting a warning to her faster team mate that she knew was too late, water rushed from her sleeves to soften the impact the explosion would still have.

Phasing out and pulling off the technique as late as he could, the masked shinobi still found himself surprised by the brightness of the explosion through both his mask and his eyelids. But he was not complacent. There had been a shout just before the explosion, and though his hearing was badly impaired by the noise he could still remember where it had come from.

Leaping through the smoke, he risked opening his eyes to see if the illusion had been broken. When, to his shock, he saw the kunai blades swinging towards him, he only had enough time to block it and winced behind the mask as the two sharp weapons bit into the hands that caught them.

Now injured, and unable to properly focus chakra to the damaged hands and use his bloodline to escape, the trapped ninja watched as tendrils of water crept from the woman's sleeve and towards his face.

She was trying to drown him. He was out of options.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_Finally!"_ Kiba sighed inwardly, watching the illusion disappear with relief. Now he just had to find out who had won.

It took him a few minutes to get his bearings again, but through the trees the Inuzuka boy spotted something that stopped him in his tracks.

In front of him, four people were bound and unconscious, each sporting some sort of paper seal that he didn't recognise on their foreheads. But what had stopped him was the sight of the woman who had been fighting only minutes before, impaled through the chest on a spike of rock. In front of her stood the masked shinobi, who seemed to be wrapping something around his hands.

"I hate using other people's techniques… Oh…"

"Konoha." Kiba had a hard time not stepping back. This guy really was tall, a hundred and eighty centimetres at least and the mask did not help the intimidating appearance. To his relief, the sword was still sheathed. He took that as a good sign.

"Yes?" he replied tentatively as the person who had threatened him earlier joined him.

"I think I should say sorry for threatening you earlier. Especially since you took out two of the people I was told to capture…" he paused and Kiba tried to shift his brain through the sudden change of pace it had just been forced into.

"You said you were out of chakra… is it permanent?" the masked shinobi asked, his voice seemingly worried.

"What? Well… I don't know..." Kiba replied honestly, more than a little confused.

"Do you know someone who can help me?" the Konoha resident asked in return. The figure nodded.

"But I don't think that's a good idea." He stated simply. Kiba's questioning glance was answered immediately.

"Taking a Leaf ninja to the hidden Rock village is definitely a bad idea. Plus… I don't really want to go there." the way he said it made Kiba feel as if that line of enquiry was closed. There was a strange awkward silence.

"Well, thanks anyway…" Kiba said slowly, starting to turn away.

"Wait! Oh screw it…"

The Inuzuka boy watched as the Rock shinobi removed his mask to reveal a sharp featured face, green eyes that tapered out at the irises to a grey colour, and a dirty mess of hair around his ears that couldn't quite decide whether it was brown or blonde.

"Huh, that's better…I shouldn't really have to hide, you're not a threat anyway…" he said cheerfully, placing his mask in a pouch on his waist.

Deciding not to take offence, Kiba continued trying to suss out the person in front of him.

"You should get out of here; I've called for a team to take them back to the village for questioning and I don't think they'll be very welcoming to Leaf ninja in the Land of Earth." The leaf shinobi frowned at this.

"What did they do?" he asked, gesturing towards the four unconscious ninja and the corpse. The taller boy looked around.

"Them? I dunno… I was ordered to capture them so I did… that's not important though-"

"How old are you?"

"What? Fifteen, but I don't get it…"

"Sorry." Kiba apologised, before continuing.

"Things have been… strange, ever since I left Konoha. I guess I just have questions…" he smiled, and got one in return.

"Yeah…" the Rock ninja agreed. He seemed to reach some sort of snap decision.

"I'll help you get back to the Fire Country then; it looks like you've had it rough recently. Finishing this off should give me some free time."

"Consider it repayment for helping me take this lot." He continued, reading the look on the other boy's face.

"You're not going back with them?" Kiba asked, indicating towards the captured ninja. In truth, he wasn't sure whether he should be grateful or scared by the offer of help. Unfortunately, considering what the strange newcomer had said along with the fact he would need help with Akamaru, he didn't really have much choice.

"Nah, like I said, I have issues with my village… 'Mutual exile' or something, if that even makes sense…" he smiled again and changed the subject.

"We should get going. If anyone finds out you're here, and I get ordered to take you out… I'll have to do it."

Kiba looked at the smiling boy and tried to work out whether it was a joke. Reading his expression the tall Rock ninja shrugged, and made it clear. It was just one of those things…

"My name's Hideyoshi by the way."

"Kiba… I need to introduce you to a friend as well. It might make all of this a bit harder though…"

His new acquaintance smiled unconcernedly, and Kiba figured that even if this he was a bit odd, at least he was agreeable.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hehe, love writing NaruHina fluff. New character, kind of introduced as a plot device to be honest. One more training chapter and then the final stage of the Chuunin exams. The end of the Chuunin exams will pretty much wrap up this story, but I've left hundreds of open ends because I wanna do a sequel. Like I said, I am already writing the next chapter now, but I have a dissertation introduction to do for next week so it may have to wait until after that. Hope everyone had a good Christmas.

Later.


End file.
